Each month a new map is presented to the Commission to help explain important trends in the Bay Area, across the nation and around the world. These custom-crafted maps are prepared by MTC’s Data & Visualization team.
This Year Is Headed For The Hottest On Record, By A Long Shot By Tom Randall, Bloomberg Business. June 18, 2015
According to new data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This past May was the hottest May on record. In fact, the past five months were the warmest start to a year on record since 1880. It's a continuation of trends that made 2014 the most blistering year for the surface of the planet. The stifling start to 2015 may be just the beginning. Thirteen of the 14 hottest years are in the 21st century, and 2015 is on track to break the heat record again. It isn't even close. The National Weather Service predicts that a pattern of unusually warm waters in the Pacific Ocean, known as El Niño, has an 85 percent chance of persisting through the 2015-2016 winter. And this El Nino could be a big one. A strong El Niño doesn't guarantee record-breaking heat, but combined with the general trend of global warming, that possibility is looking increasingly likely. El Niño conditions transfer heat that's been building in the ocean into the atmosphere, affecting weather around the world. A protracted El Niño could bring relief to California's unprecedented drought in the form of heavy rains, but would likely add another year to the rising stack of broken temperature records.
- Previous Map of the MonthJune 2015Bay Area Housing Production: Forecast Vs. Observed What Year Will Your City Reach Its 2040 Housing Growth Forecast, Assuming The Annualized Housing Production Rate In 2014 Continues Unabated?
- Next Map of the MonthSeptember 2015How So Many People In The U.S. Live In So Little Of Its Space By Ana Swanson, Washington Post Wonk Blog.