2015 was officially the hottest year on record, following a gradual rise in temperatures worldwide for over a century. The Hindu reports: The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and NASA announced on Wednesday that 2015 was by far the hottest year in 136 years of record keeping. The NOAA said 2015’s temperature was 58.62°F (14.79°C), passing 2014 by a record margin of 0.29°F. That’s 1.62°F above the 20-century average. NASA, which measures differently, said 2015 was 0.23°F warmer than the record set in 2014. Because of the wide margin over 2014, NASA calculated that 2015 was a record with 94 per cent certainty, about double the certainty it had last year when announcing 2014 as a record. Although 2015 is now the hottest on record, it was the fourth time in 11 years that Earth broke annual marks for high temperature. “It’s getting to the point where breaking record is the norm,” Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe said. “It’s almost unusual when we’re not breaking a record.” Scientists blame a combination of El Nino and increasing man-made global warming. Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University said a strong El Nino, like this year’s, can add about a third of a [...]