The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has officially announced that 2015 was the second hottest recorded year for the U.S.
The NOAA started recording yearly average temperature for the U.S. in 1895, and it was in 2012 when the continent hit a temperature of 55.3 degrees Fahrenheit, currently the hottest recorded temperature for the nation. Last year, U.S. hit 54.4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The Huffington Post.
There were 28 states that were much warmer than average. Florida, Montana, Oregon and Washington broke records, while Alaska, California and Idaho had their second warmest year, Fox News reported.
No science was also needed to tell that last year's December weather was warmer than the usual, as people went about celebrating the Christmas holidays with no snow in sight.
The NOAA reported that 29 states had the warmest December on record, with an average of 38.6 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the record in 1939 of 37.7 degrees Fahrenheit. This record-breaking December temperature greatly contributed to making 2015 the second warmest year, according to The Washington Post.
Last year was also filled with different calamities related to a warmer climate, such as drought in California, wildfires, and the lack of a wintry climate, and snow, during the Christmas holidays.
All these climate changes are most likely attributed to the accumulating greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because of various human activities. In return, El Niño worsened, greatly contributing to a warmer year. There was also a significant rise in sea temperatures, which has been observed to gradually rise each year at a rate of 0.14 since 1901, The Washington Post noted.
