For months, climate scientists have been saying that 2015 would be the hottest year on record, besting–if that’s the word we want to use–last year’s chart topper.  Now it’s official, and not only did 2015 emerge as the hottest and sweatiest worldwide, it did so by a large margin.

According to renowned climate scientist Michael Mann, the likelihood of having back-to-back record-breaking years without climate change is about 1 in 1500 years.  With climate change?  Make that 1 in every 10 years.

And thanks to a strong El Nino, which disrupts weather patterns worldwide when the trade winds shifts, 2016 could be another scorcher.

Meantime, the sun is out and temps will reach the 50s in northern Oregon within a week.  Sounds good…until it doesn’t:  2500 died in a single Indian heat wave last year.

The New York Times has a solid account of this story:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/science/earth/2015-hottest-year-global-warming.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news