The year 2015 was Earth’s warmest year since global record-keeping began in 1880, with a record-breaking December pushing the average up even higher, the U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports.
The average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces during 2015 was 58.62°F (14.8°C), which is 1.62°F (0.90°C) above the 20th century average. Previous records were broken by significantly smaller increases, but global temperatures in 2015 were strongly influenced by strong El Niño conditions that developed during the year.
During the year, all but two months had record high temperatures, and the five highest monthly departures from average for any month on record all occurred during 2015, according to NOAA. The globally-averaged land surface temperatures were also at record highs: 2.39°F (1.33°C) above the 20th century average.
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