2015 was the warmest year since records began

Experts from Nasa, Met Office and Noaa all confirm last year was the warmest year on record.

Figures released this week confirm that 2015 was the warmest year since reporting began in 1850, according to Nasa, the Met Office and Noaa.

The average global temperature in 2015 was 0.75C higher than the long-term average between 1960-1991 – a significant increase from the 2014 figure of 0.57C.

Gavin Schmidt, a Nasa scientist explains the increase is “partly because there’s a big El Niño event on-going in the tropical Pacific but it’s mostly because there’s a long term trend in temperatures that’s related to the increasing greenhouse gases particularly carbon dioxide that comes from burning fossil fuels.”

This record high temperature marks the halfway point of the 2C ceiling agreed at December's UN Climate Conference in Paris.

Deke Ardnt, a scientist at Noaa commented “where we were taken back is the numbers for October, November and December, if we see those continue into 2016, that’s a big deal.”