The Pope's Encyclical is Out, and so is the Verdict on 2015's Climate so Far: Warmest on Record

The highly populated northeastern U.S. as well as parts of Canada are visible in this photograph taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station in early May, 2015. Why use it for a story about global warming? Please see below... (Source: Fragile Oasis/NASA/Astronauts of the International Space Station) As heated debate swirled around Pope Francis's call today for action on climate change, new data on Earth's climate were released. The verdict: record warmth. Earth just experienced its warmest March through May on record, according to the the data released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The year-to-date was also the warmest January through May period on record. And so was the month of May itself. NOAA's assessment of the climate in May differs slightly from one released by NASA earlier this week, which found that the month was in a tie for second warmest. Different methods for calculating Earth's average temperature account for the discrepancy, which is relatively small.