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Last year was the hottest on record by a jaw-dropping margin, our new report has revealed.
KEY FINDINGS
1. 2015 was the hottest year on record globally. Climate change was a major factor in driving the record-breaking heat in 2015 worldwide.
- The global average temperature for 2015 was 0.90°C above the 20th century average, eclipsing the previous record set in 2014 by 0.16°C.
- The record global warmth of 2015 is part of a long-term trend. All of the world’s 10 warmest years have occurred since 1998. 2015 is the 39th consecutive year with above-average global temperatures.
- No one aged under 40 has lived in a year with global average temperatures at or below the global 20th century average.
2. Climate change is a major factor in extreme heat and fire in Australia.
- Averaged across Australia, temperatures for nine of the 12 months of 2015 were above-average.
- Australia recorded its hottest ever October in 2015 and recent research has found that global warming increased the chance of these record-breaking temperatures by a factor of at least six.
- Severe bushfires across Australia over the 2015/2016 summer have been made worse by climate change, particularly by the extreme hot weather.
- The Great Barrier Reef and other marine ecosystems are under threat from rising ocean temperatures and increasing ocean acidity.
3. Temperature records are being smashed across many regions of the world, largely through the influence of climate change.
- Nine months in 2015 broke global heat records with July 2015 the hottest month ever on Earth since records began in 1850.
- The emission of greenhouse gases is driving record global heat. Countries must drastically reduce their emissions from coal, oil and gas to slow and then halt the escalating impacts of extreme heat and severe fires.
