2015 shatters the temperature record as global warming speeds back up | Dana Nuccitelli

Thanks to human-caused global warming and an assist from El Nino, 2015 will easily be the hottest year in millennia

With just a month and a half left in 2015, it's clear this year will be by far the hottest on record, easily beating the previous record set just last year. The temporary slowdown in the warming of global surface temperatures (also misnamed the "pause") has ended, as each of the past four years has been hotter than the one before.

El Nino is one reason 2015 has been such an incredibly hot year. During El Nino events, hot water is transported from the deep ocean layers to the surface. Over the past 15 years, we've experienced more La Ninas than El Ninos, which helped temporarily slow the warming of global surface temperatures.