Last year was the warmest globally since at least the mid-to-late 1800s, according to the State of the Climate in 2015 report published Tuesday in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. “The report found that most indicators of climate change continued to reflect trends consistent with a warming planet. Several markers such as land and ocean temperatures, sea levels, and greenhouse gases broke records set just one year prior,” a NOAA release says.
Global CO2 level also reached an all-time high. “At Mauna Loa, Hawaii, the annual CO2 concentration increased by a record 3.1 ppm, exceeding 400 ppm for the first time on record. The 2015 global CO2 average neared this threshold, at 399.4 ppm,” the report says.
The report is compiled using data from more than 450 scientists in over 62 countries. “Across land surfaces, record to near-record warmth was reported across every inhabited continent. Twelve countries, including Russia and China, reported record high annual temperatures. In June, one of the most severe heat waves since 1980 affected Karachi, Pakistan, claiming over 1000 lives,” the report says.
