An annual report that is sometimes called the planet's "physical" finds that 2015 was the warmest year since records began in the mid to late 19th century. The year also marked several other milestones, from a record carbon concentration to an unusual number of tropical storms.

The 26th report, State of the Climate in 2015, released online today by the American Meteorological Society (AMS), was compiled by hundreds of scientists from 62 countries and was peer reviewed.

“Last year’s record heat resulted from the combined influence of long-term global warming and one of the strongest El Niño events the globe has experienced since at least 1950," NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information says in a statement.

"The report found