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2015 hottest year on record

By Salynda Hogsett
Published in The Source
On January 20, 2016, the Met Office, UKs national weather service, released data
showing that 2015 was the hottest year on record. According to their measurements, global
temperatures increased by 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree C) in 2015 alone.
The data was corroborated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
According to an article published on the NOAA website, temperature data is gathered
around the globe and then gathered into more-understandable data.
The article said that although temperature varies from location to location, there has been
a worldwide, average increase in temperature since 1976, with 2015 showing the most drastic
increase.
While 1.7 degrees may not seem like a lot, it has the possibility of changing the biology
of life on our planet.
Dr. Denise Piechnik, associate professor of biology at the University of Pittsburgh at
Bradford, compared it to when a person gets sick. The sick individual gets a fever that raises
their body temperature above its normal 98.6 degrees F.
At the temperature of 104 degrees F, which is only approximately a five degree
difference from our normal body temperature, the proteins in your body that make up your skin
and your muscles and your brain begin to break apart, Piechnik said.
[One point seven degrees Fahrenheit] changes the chemistry of life, she said. Life now
has to adapt, and some things can adapt and some things can not adapt.

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Dr. Mary Mulcahy, division chair and associate professor of biology at Pitt-Bradford,
studies pollination ecology.
She said that in pollination ecology, plants, animals and insects depend closely on each
other and a drastic change in temperature could disrupt that balance.
She said that when the climate changes it affects which plants and animals can live in any
given location.
Since many plants and animals depend on each other, the whole balance could be thrown
off if only one factor is disturbed by the changing climate.
Its hard to say who will be more flexible, whether it be the plant or the insect,
Mulcahy said, but obviously they both need each other, and that makes the relationship slightly
more likely to be disrupted.
She said that for plants with multiple pollinators, it will be easier for them to adjust since
certain pollinators will adapt more quickly to the change or not be affected at all. However, the
plants that only have one pollinator are more likely to be disrupted.
Being the warmest year on record isnt the only reason 2015 was historic for climate
change.
In December 2015, 195 countries came to an agreement to follow certain guidelines to
fight climate change, a deal that came to a head at the Paris convention after 21 years of debate.
According to an article published on the European Commission's website, Some of the
changes include goals working to reduce emissions and keep the average temperature from rising
above the 2 degree Celsius mark, setting goals every five years to monitor progress and helping
developing countries as they deal with the effects of climate change among others.

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The Paris deal is a huge step in dealing with our changing climate, but the actions of
governments are not going to completely solve the problem.
A great deal of the change will come down to individual changes and decisions, Mulcahy
said.
It would be nice if on an individual and community level we decided that [helping our
planet] really is cool, said Mulcahy. Its really a good thing to take your [own] bags to the
grocery store, and it really is awesome to eat less meat... I wish there was a degree of popularity
in these very simple, personal changes that actually have huge impacts.