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CFE agenda 020816
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CFE agenda 020816
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2/8/2016
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Regular Meeting
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CFE minutes 020816
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GREENWIRE The leader in energy & environmental policy news <br />2015 smashed records, but 2016 will be hotter still -- scientists <br />Emily Yehle, E E reporter <br />Published: Wednesday, January 20, 2016 <br />Last year was the world's warmest year ever recorded, beating out 2014 in average temperatures <br />over land and ocean surfaces, according to both NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric <br />Administration. <br />Federal scientists announced the news this morning, marking the second year in a row that broke <br />temperature records stretching back to 1880. It was widely expected and in line with NOAA's <br />announcement earlier this month that 2015 was the second - warmest year for the United States <br />(j2reenwire, Jan. 7). <br />A strong El Nino pushed temperatures particularly high at the tail end of the year, contributing to an <br />unprecedentedly warm December. But on a call with reporters today, NOAA and NASA scientists <br />emphasized that 2015 would have broken records even without the "El Nino assist." <br />"Even without El Nino, this would have been the warmest year on record. We're really looking at a <br />long -term trend," said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. "This <br />is really just a symptom of this long -term trend." <br />The year was significantly warmer than 2014, the previous record holder, with the average <br />temperature across global land and ocean surfaces 1.63 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th - century <br />average. In 2014, that number was 1.24 F. <br />December broke its own records, reaching 2 F above the 20th - century average. That's the first time <br />in 137 years any month has departed so far from the average. The bottom line: Both NOAA and <br />NASA are "virtually certain" that the world experienced its hottest year in 2015. <br />Schmidt and Tom Karl, director of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, also <br />predicted that 2016 would be even hotter. "I think probably both Gavin and I would say the odds <br />favor 2016," Karl said. "If you were going to be betting, you would bet that it would be warmer than <br />2015." <br />2015 also marked the first time the temperature was 1 degree Celsius above the 19th- century <br />average (based on measurements from 1880 to 1900). That is a significant milestone at a time when <br />world leaders aim to limit global temperatures to 2 C above preindustrial levels, as outlined in the <br />recent Paris accord. <br />Since 1970, the world has warmed by about 0.15 C a decade, according to both NOAA and NASA <br />data. The world is already seeing the impacts of global warming, and those impacts are just going to <br />get clearer, Schmidt said. <br />"There has to be a sustained discourse and monitoring of the situation from everybody for this <br />problem to get under control," Schmidt said. "It's really something that depends on the long -term <br />trends and our long -term ability to maintain focus on this issue." <br />
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