Global heat, sea level hit record highs in 2015

Global heat, greenhouse gases and sea levels all climbed to record highs last year, making 2015 the worst in modern times across a range of key environmental indicators, international scientists said Tuesday. The record heat that the planet experienced last year was driven partially by global warming, and was exacerbated by the ocean heating trend known as El Nino, it said. El Nino, which just ended in July, was one of the strongest the Earth has seen "since at least 1950," said the report, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information.