otherwise you're getting mad at that shark. i'm ray suarez, and that's the "inside story". >> this is aljazeera america, i'm tony harris. the plunge on volatility on the market. the dow tumbles over the price of oil. not enough. the mayor of flint, michigan, said that the city needs way more to fix the water crisis. the timing was no coincidence. the hottest on record. the earth is warmer than it has ever been, possibly more than 1 million years.

so it was another down day on widwidewall street and financial markets around the world. but by the close of the day, the dow had dropped 250 points. at one point, it had been down 565 points, the nasdaq and the s&p 500 were all to blame for the decline, largely because of the still decreasing crude, now going for less than $27 a barrel, a price not seen in 13 years. john. >> reporter: the world seems to be swimming in oil right now, and that has in fact created a glut of the black stuff, so much so that it's rattling world markets, and contributing in a major way to woes on wall street. falling oil prices and no end

in sight. that's what sparked another rocky day on wall street on wednesday. it closed down 2%. the reason, the price of crude oil falling below $30 a barrel, the lowest since 2023. >> we have a glut of oil. we have four times the apply and 1 and a half times the demand. and anybody can see that's not good. >> reporter: it's devastating for economies and countries trying to produce oil. china's, and saudi arabia floods the market, in anert to hovel rival producers in the u.s., and now to counter iranian oil. the sanctions with the nuclear deal with the u.s. and five other nations. the saudi economy may be able to take the prices for now, but that's not true of nigeria, where the economy is being hurt

by cheap oil. >> the straw that's going to break the camel's back, we eat our way through some of the stockpiles. we have tankers sitting on the ocean full of oil, waiting for someplace to put it. >> reporter: others point to a royal bank of scotland warning, basically sell everything and put it in investments. while americans are fueling their cars, it may be around until the piece of oil bottoms out. >> we're going to have to see a global pick up in growth and that would be the kicker but it's not happening any time soon. the stock market is the worst in history. >> reporter: and oil prices at the gas pumps, airlines are seeing their profits take off. american airlines is paying up

to $1 less per gallon than last year, but is there any sign of cheaper seat prices? i don't think so. >> i flow that's not the case. the world economic forum is underway in davos, switzerland. some 1500 business leaders are in attendance, and aljazeera's kamal santa maria is in davos with the story. >> reporter: you are guaranteed lots of things in switzerland, snow and lots of news. today, the fall of chinese markets overnight and the drop in the price of oil, and economic recovery, and it's a situation potentially worse than the financial crisis of 2017. the association for economic and development, out of ammunition to fight the downturns, so it's time, according to the u.n. secretary general for a change in thinking.

>> we are continuing with the central bank, and they have been the heros of the last four or five years, and it's time for the finance minsters, and the trade minsters, and the education minsters, it's time to go structural. it's time to go green, and it's time to go institutional. and a time to go social, and all of the structural measures that we did not take. >> but is it too late? markets and currencies are already crashing, and here in europe, where the brakes were so strongly applied, it's a struggle to get moving again. >> i think that we should worked harder in europe to restructure debt more aggressively than we did, and i think that we made a mistake in not boosting it, the euro zone, much too long, and so we don't

get any momentum, and how do we go on? >> an opinion. >> might struggle with a slowing than that says commit to improving the state of the world, when it's just a bunch of rich people at a very expensive ski resort in winter. >> it includes those who might might. >> hilliary clinton and donald trump, i think that the leaders, isolations that many people try to impose, it's going to be in this year, as many see that russia wants to

be an integrated player in the state. >> with oil at $28 a barrel, and so much of the global economy dependent on its health, even russia with that tone knows that 2016 will be tough, and to think that it's only january. >> the taliban, pakistan is putting distance between itself and the deadly attack on the university in northwestern pakistan, 20 people were killed, mostly students and teachers. and aljazeera's victoria with more. >> reporter: the students who survived the attack are recovering in hospital. face-to-face with the men who tried to kill them. >> we ran upstairs to the third floor of the vice chancellor's office. he opened fire at me. i ran upstairs and jumped from the third floor, and then i fell unconscious.

>> reporter: 3,000 students at the university, the classes were full when the armed men stormed the building and opened fire at the students and staff. it was called maximum devastation. 600 guests were visiting the campus to mark the anniversary of the death of the man that the university was named after. he was the founder of an amount i taliban political party. they identified some of the armed men through evidence found at the scene. >> we recovered two cellphones, and telephone calls were made among the terrorists. the voice recordings were listened to and analyzed. and it has been established. >> reporter: back at the university, 40 kilometers away from where the taliban killed 140 people in a school attack in december of 2014. the pakistani government said

that it's not far behind them, and a splinter group claimed responsibility. the pakistani government will look at what can be done to protect schools and universities that are vulnerable in this. >> the terrorists have carried out an act of cowardice. we killed many of them, but some are still on the run. outspoken, some of the students are determined to continue their education. >> reporter: attacks by fighters affiliated with pakistani taliban have declined in the past year, in part because of the decrease in military operation, and the efforts to shut down the sources of funding, but this assault suggests that there are some fighters commit to continuing the chaos. >> defense secretary, ashe carter, is making a new push today in the fight against isil, he's in paris meeting with leaders of six other countries. they are trying though figure out for next strategy to stop

the group. >> by the power of a global coalition, wielding a mighty suite of capabilities, ranging from airstrikes, special forces, advice, and assistance, equipment and training. to local motivated forces, cyber tools, intelligence, mobility, and logistics. >> carter emphasized the need for arab coalition members to fight the fight. and jackie roland has more from paris. >> reporter: this was the first high level meeting of the seven countries that are most heavily engaged in the fight against isil. their objective to intensify the campaign in iraq and syria, the u.s. navy launches bombing raids from an architect carrier in the gulf. the coalition wants to weaken isil and degrade its ability to

capture and hold he territory. part of the strategy is to target isil's logistics and resources, and that includes oil. these image from the british defense ministry show jets targeting the isis controlled facilities in eastern syria, and they need to counter isil's message. [ foreign dialogue ] >> >> interpreter: it's resilience should strengthen, and really root them out on the ground and in people's minds. >> reporter: when it comes to the fighting on the ground, the coalition depends almost entirely on local iraqi or syrian forces. several countries are providing them with training. but there's no talk of putting their own on the ground. >> we are enabling local,

motivated forces, wherever isil has spread, as the only practically strategic approach. not only to defeating isil, but also of sustaining it's defeat thereafter. >> reporter: it was a large gathering. nevertheless, there were notable absences from the table. russia, carrying out it's own airstrikes in syria, and turkey, which serves as a root for isil fighters and supplies. >> we saw this already, in afghanistan, and i don't think that it was hugely successful in afghanistan. and the second main reservation is that two important partners are missing, which is turkey and russia, and of course there's a huge war between turkey and russia. >> reporter: this is mainly focused on iraq and syria. but isil has gained strength in libya, and it has extended it's reach into africa and europe. this is not a conventional

enemy and a conventional war. the battle lines keep shifting, sometimes into the heart of western capitals. another meeting will be held in three weeks time, bringing together a larger group of coalition members. isil is proving more ten ace than expected. jackie roland, aljazeera, paris. >> a spokesman for the syrian democratic forces tells aljazeera that u.s. troops have taken control of an airfield close to the border. it was formally controlled by u.s.-backed kurdish protection units. and all of this fighting is doing irreparable damage, and isil is wiping out history satellite images show that fighters leveled the oldest christian monastery in iraq. they showed it before and after. it dated back 1400 years, but

amid the rubble, thousands of people are still there fighting to survive. >> reporter: the streets look calm for now, but the mood remains tense. while many school children are back in classrooms, and bakeries. the remnants of the sectarian violence is eats to spot. it was frequented by shia militiamen, to the burned out remains in the market in the reprisal attacks. >> they are often accused of siding with isil and harboring terrorism. >> this sunni family are so scared, they have asked us to blur their faces and not to reveal their names. the last thing they wanted to do was to leave. >> we were ordered to go, and

forcibly displaced by the militias. and i have my entire family living in one room that i can barely afford. better the time being, they have moved to the city and have no idea if or when they will be able to go back. >> many houses owned by sunnis were fire bombed in the last few months, and many members of our community were killed too. and they have nothing but the love of god. >> reporter: it's located in the province, and it has a population of sunnis and shias. >> since 2015, had the shias, anger from the soup he's, who agree that it has been right. when the prime minister visited on tuesday, he vowed to restore security for all residents. but to many sunni lawmakers, those promises are hollow and they ar accusing the governmentf

not protecting the citizens. >> reporter: in indiana, for instance, we see the retaliatory attacks, and the government is not able to control the reaction >> reporter: as it battles isil and confronts a crisis, it makes the volatile situation that much more dire. >> senate democrats today blocked a vote on a bill that would have made it nearly impossible to settle refugees from iraq and syria. and aljazeera's lisa stark explains why i be taken up on te senate floor. >> reporter: supporters of the bill, which was proposed after the terrorist attack, said that it would help to prevent americans from terrorist attacks.

syrian and iraqi refugees are already vetted before they come to the united states, and that would have made the process 67 more stringent. it would have required them to sign off on of each refugee that each refugee was not a threat. here's one of the bill's supporters. >> what the legislation is about, it's about national security. people who are refugees, whether they're adequately vetted by the proper authorities, before they come to the united states and live in our communities. this is not about banning refugees. it simply is not. >> reporter: many democrats denounced the replace, saying that republicans were declaring a war on refugees. >> our war is not with refugees, but it's with isil and terrorists, and to kill in about people. and for us to turn our heads.

give me a break. >> reporter: to advance the bill to a procedural vote, they did not get it. now, democrats wanting to turn it into a slap on donald trump, saying we'll vote to advance the bill if you let us vote on an amendment that would denounce trump for his call to ban muslims from coming into the united states, and the republicans were not going to get to that. immigration and security, a very hot topic on the campaign trail. marco rubio, ted cruz and rand paul. the democratic senator, bernie sanders, he stayed on the campaign trail, and he was not at the comet today. he would have voted against this ref gee bill. back to you. >> that's lisa stark, reporting for us from washington. they were given three weeks to get here, and now the first

800 cuban migrants are starting to arrive in the united states. >> >> reporter: crossing from mexico into the united states, a brief celebration. then back on the road. from the state of texas, the u.s. highway stretches before them. each has their own destination. one here in texas. the others at different points in florida. soon, a checkpoint. cubans, unlike other migrants, are immediately granted political asylum. so no hold up, no worries. they have 36 more hours to go. a lot of time to take in new sights, especially since they have traveled so little in their lives. >> this is so new to me. i'm surprised by everything, the roads, the cold weather, the shops, everything. they might seem like

insignificant things, but that's new to me. >> reporter: a cuban who came forward and introduces them to all that's offered, even u.s. gas stations. the first purchase, lottery tickets, a new land, a new culture and new things to buy. in a country less than a day, they're already dreaming big. >> reporter: we're in a transition after waiting for so long, and now we're in a place we want to be. happy and crazy to get going. >> a trip that they thought would last just a day goes on and on. texas, louisiana, alabama, time, florida, and it seems endless. >> reporter: we just pulled into miami, and this long day is about to come to an end. she has traveled the past 2 and a half months across thousands of kilometers, over 2 and a half dozen countries, and finally, after two years, she's about to be reunited with her husband.

all the more emotional, because she had to leave her son behind and she could only travel after her father died. >> my battery was almost draped. and she's here now. the long wait is time over for this couple. thousands of other cubans in central america are still waiting their turn. adam rainy, aljazeera, miami. >> and up next, coming home, journalist the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience.

and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

>> a washington post reporter, freed, jason was freed. and he said that he feels fine, catching up on events. and he said that he plans to write about the u.s. and iran again. a report on the death of alexander will be presented tomorrow. he died there six years later after being poisoned with a radioactive element. and aljazeera is live in london with the story. >> reporter: alexanderyenko, with his wife. and how he came to be poisoned in 2006.

as he lay dying in this london hospital, lit vinenko was working part-time for the intelligence service, mi6. he fell ill shortly after meeting two russians at this central london hotel. it was later discovered that he had drunk tea containing high levels of a radioactive substance. three weeks later, he was dead and he had to be buried in a lead lined coffin. sensitive information about russian an intelligence, and he promises not to pull any punches. >> i'm prayed to make final the conclusion on russian responsibilities. and together, as much as possible of my reasoning in that regard. >> reporter: the uk failed to

get moscow to admit to poisoning litvinyenko. they denied t he said that he produced documents that proved his innocence, and he said that it matched discoveries of pullonium. >> the evidence has demonstrated step by painstaking step, that putin and his personal kabul are directly implicated in organized crime. that they are willing to murder those who stand in their way, and that mr. litvinenko was murdered for that reason. >> his widow is expect to lead

calls for sanctions against her husband's murderer and the state entities. but at the uk foreign office, they're warning against tough punitive measures, when russia's involvement in ending the war in syria is so crucial. the where and what happens next could prove tougher questions to answer. aljazeera, london. >> next up on the program, the water crisis in print. speaking out on the water emergency, and detroit, how the city is doing since declaring bankruptcy just over a year ago.

>> as promised, the governor of michigan released emails related to the water crisis in flint today. many of the 274 pages of messages from the media, several of them are heavily redacted. and others reveal confusion from governor rick snyder in making sure which agencies are responsible for making sure the water is safe. >> reporter: there are increasing calls for michigan's republican governor, rick snyder, to resign. but the mayor of flint is not adding her voice to the chorus. democrat, karen weaver, is no fan of the governor, but gunt say that he should resign. >> trust was broken over a period of time. and you don't regain trust because a statement was made. and this is something that he has to work on for a long, long

time. >> reporter: weaver was asked if class and race played a part in the response, which even the governor called a failure. >> it's a minority community, and a poor community. and our voices were not heard and that's part of the problem >> reporter: the governor said on tuesday during his state of the state address that his administration will make things right. >> there could be no excuse. when michiganders turn on the tap, they expect safe, clean water. >> reporter: president obama, traveled to michigan on wednesday and talked about the crisis. >> it is a reminder of why you can't shortchange basic services that we provide to our people, and that we together provide as a government to make sure that the public health and safety is preserved. >> reporter: mayor weaver was at a conference in washington d.c. on thursday, warning other

mayors about the dangers of contaminated water. >> start monitoring what's going on with your water, the infrastructure, and don't let this happen where live. >> reporter: mayor weaver was just elected in november, but a city manager, appointed by governor snyder, still has far more broad powers over the city than she does. and it was a previous city manager, also appointed by the governor, who also saw a switch in the city's water supply that led to the dangerous drinking water. aljazeera, flint, michigan. >> emma lockridge lives in one of detroit's most polluted areas, and she wrote about it on aljazeera.com. and said that the process shows that black lives do not matter. >> we have had a culture of just miss al i dismissal and het black people are possibly dying, and an apology

is not good enough. i think that the governor should resign, and i think that they should completely rework the environmental department because it's not working. i am shocked by what's happening in the plant and i'm not surprised. and that's kind of a pathetic situation. >> lockridge said that the residents of flint need evidence that a crime was not committed wednesday the residents of the city. friday, crisis in flint, a water emergency. it starts at 4:30 eastern. another michigan city is dealing with a situation of its own. the detroit school district is protesting taking teachers to court. an injunction to prevent teachers from organizing sickouts to call attention to the city's deplorable conditions. the absences caused 88 of the 97 schools to close today. >> reporter: the doors were locked at roberto clemente

learning catmy in detroit on wednesday, as teachers from that school and 87 others called in sick so they think march outside of north american international auto show where president obama was visiting. this was the teacher's latest effort to draw attention to what they say are impossible working conditions in their debt ridden school district. >> we have overcrowded classes, and we don't have enough teachers to offer all of classes that we need. >> they just didn't know we were going to tell on them. >> we're seeing damage. >> the american federation of teachers posted this video on youtube, showing how rainwater damaged a ceiling and caused a floor in one gymnasium to warp. and the teachers complained about classrooms with too many kids and not enough supplies. >> i teach first grade. >> the detroit federation of teachers says that the money

problems, and a resolving door of the district managers are why so many of them are frustrated. >> reporter: the to do district is struggling under a $500 million deficit, caused by a drop-in property tax revenue and cuts in local and federal aid. and that's why they are struggling to retain teachers, but the federation president said that the district is purn turning a blind eye. >> they need to make education in the city priority one. >> they haven't done that. >> no, they haven't done that. this has not happened to any other school assist in the state of michigan >> reporter: the michigan legislature is creating a plan that would create a second school district that would take control of the schools and pay down debt n a state of the state tuesday night, governor scott said that they need to act soon. >> the detroit schools are in

crisis, and they are in had need of a transformational change. >> reporter: the emergency manager said that if help it's not come by april, the district will be insolvent. >> we're talking about the lives of 744,000 students, and these things are very critical to the long-term survive ability of any city or community. let's just say that we're at a point now that we before that it can be fixed but we need legislation to do that. >> >> reporter: darnel early said what might happen if the school district refuses to acts. it could mean even fewer teachers, and a tougher learning environment for detroit's children. >> got to tell you, it wasn't all gloom and doom today in detroit. president obama talked to the american auto industry. >> the american auto industry is all the way back. across the country, we thought that they would never make

another car again. can't make them fast enough. new shifts coming on, and boosting wages, and since our plan kicked in, the american auto industry has added 640,000 new jobs. >> reporter: joining us now, bisi, covering the president's trip to detroit. he touted the auto industry, but he also addressed detroit's bounce back, and what did he have to say that. >> yeah, he did. president obama addressed members of the united auto worker's union, and he started his speech off by saying that detroit is coming back. though his visit to detroit was brief, he had the opportunity to have lunch today with the mayor of detroit, mike duncan, and the other city leaders, and he stopped at a popular watch stop. shineola, before touring the national auto show. the president's speech today focus on the resurgence of the

american auto industry, but he also talked about how far the city of detroit has come since emerging from bankruptcy. take a listen. >> starting five years ago, i sent some of my top people across the federal government to help city hall and ordinary citizens, to spark that comeback here in motor city. so today you have buses that are running again, streets that are well lit again. new homes and ginses getting off the ground again. there's still plenty of work to do, but you can feel the difference. you can feel something special happening in detroit. you know, i stopped by a restaurant to have lunch, the jolly pumpkin, that was tasty stuff. >> reporter: and in 2013, the federal government pitched in tens of thousands of dollars to help improve things here in the city of detroit, some of the issuing addressed.

and public safety as well transportation, tony. and as the president mention, people from here in detroit, they have moved out of state. and they come back and say that they can definitely feel that something special is happening here. >> so that segues perfectly to my other question here. i started early, what improvements have been made since the city actually emerged from bankruptcy? >> tony, there are so many examples, and before the bankruptcy, 40% of the city's street lights didn't work, and the city has been replacing those lights, and 90% of those street lights have been recommend. we talked to a lot of residents over the past three years since the city filed for bankruptcy, and many are seeing improvement and response time when it comes to calling 9-1-1 and getting a glancaaambulance to their home.

and nothing is like before in decades. those are some of the positive changes. >> sounds good, bisi onile-ere, good to see you. and writing about cars in the auto industries, and lauren, i've known her for years now, and let me ask you something, at the end of the day, was it the right thing to do for president obama to propose the auto industry bailout, and i guess it was newly elected president obama to see it through as president? >> well, there's a big dispute amongst auto journalists, and i say they shouldn't v. because roger penske wanted to buy general motors. if penske had purchased general motors, he would have been able to fund it because he would have had the cash flow. there were other people who would have bought it. they're not going to let general motors close their doors, and maybe all of those

who did close wouldn't have happened. >> so you think there was another approach. and there were other bidders out there. >> yeah. >> but the government decided this is what they want dad, it was too big to fail. and they gave it money and this is where we are today. >> so the bailout happens, and what did the industry do right? post-bailout. >> well, they're building better cars, and they weren't building bad cars before, but they're even better now, with ford and general motors. >> i have the l train, and i don't own a car right now, and i didn't pay of attention to what happened in the industry in 2015. what i'm reading now, it was a manor year. what happened? what was the story? >> if you go back three years, and the average lease was about three years. do you remember cash for clunkers? it was designed for people that

couldn't afford cars, and what happened, the people that could afford cars did purchase cars, and now three years from a now, people are purchasing cars. will this continue? you're going to see growth in 2016, but by 2017, it's going to dip down. >> what's the dip down. >> people are going to buy cars. 1 million cars, electric cars, people aren't buying them. >> aren't buying them? >> no, only 115,000 cars were purchased this year. since he started purchasing the electric vehicles, people that have them don't want them, because they don't want to be tethered to a cord. and people are buying suvs. crossover suvs, pickup trucks, take up 59% of the total 17 million plus cars this year. >> is that because of the low gas prices? because it's cheap and you can buy a better vehicle?

>> the cars are more fuel efficient. me are building better cars, and get better fuel efficiency. turbo-charged. and every manufacturer is putting a lot of money in them. >> so the electric cars, that seemed like the wave of the future, and will they get the batteries right. >> they are never going to go away, and some will always want them and love them. but here in new york city, you're not going to put a cord from your window to your sidewalk, and you can't do that. but in other areas it makes sense, and there's free charging, and california has a law, if you're not selling electric vehicles, you're not selling electric vehicles in the state. there's always going to be a portion of the industry unless california changes their rules. >> let me get to this. a self driving car, autonomous cars. >> there's piloted, which is what audo is building, piloted driving, or autonomous.

the difference is one is driving on the highway, and it's actually piloting the vehicle for you. and autonomous is where it's helping to guide and you taking over on the highway. and there are different designs, and the government is trying to put $4 billion in the proposal over the ten years, and i say let's take that $4 billion put it into roadways and bridges. >> infrastructure. >> jobs. >> because auto piloted vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and this messy infrastructure that we have, it doesn't make a nice marriage. >> it doesn't, because they need to have markers on the roadways, and it's not there, and the lasers and the cameras in the front don't do their job. and one thing that's important right now, as of today, the consumer electronic show, which you covered, they don't work when it's snowing and the rain, and they're only designed for the highways, and not for the city streets yet.

>> let me ask the gallery -- do we have any more time for lauren? we're done. good to see you, and up next on the program, the hottest year on record, and 2015 set a new high, shattering statistics from 2014. and just a few decades from now, why there might not be plenty of fish in the sea, but plastic instead.

>> so the national weather service warns that heavy, perhaps crippling snow is heading to the northern mid atlantic region of the country this weekend. well, before the weekend, correct? okay, but other storms have brought accumulations and accidents to parts of the midwest. look at these pictures of chicago, but at least we now know one driver died in snowy road conditions in kentucky. kevin is here looking at the big picture. >> this is a precursor of the bigger storm that's coming. >> this isn't the big snow? >> no. a lot of problems in the midwest as well but let's look at what's really coming. a lot of excitement. right now, not a lot is happening, but you see the circulation in parts of oklahoma as well as parts of kansas. as we go toward tomorrow, then we start to pick up a lot more moisture. in terms of rain, we pick up a little bit of snow here across kentucky. and it's as we go toward

friday, that things start to get very very interesting with this particular storm. it farther to deepen, and pulls a lot of moisture, and then we get a lot of snow associated with this storm right here. the warnings and watches are already out. this is wednesday, and we have the watches out here for what's going to be happening here on friday. we have winter storm warnings, and watches as well. and it's going to continue. here's the friday forecast. it's going to be quite messy. all the way from most of virginia, up here to parts of philadelphia. we're expecting 24 inches or more of snow across the washington d.c. area. and that's going to go from friday night into saturday morning. but if you're traveling on 81, 95 or 68, it's going to be very very dicey on the roads there. and then we go into saturday, and the storm system makes its way toward the north. and then we get into the new york metro area. we're not going to get as much

snow as they're going to get in washington, but some of the forecasters say up to 12 inches of snow for new york, and up to 18-inch of snow in parts of new jersey, and if you're traveling anywhere in boston and philadelphia, it's going to be very difficult there. in terms of winds, that's going to be a big problem. and we'll put it into motion and show you how the winds really increase along the coast. so if it's going to be snowing and we have the winds, that's going to bring down the visibility and widespread power outages. >> winds blowing, drifting, power lines down. this is going to be nasty. kevin, appreciate it, thank you. and secretary of state john kerry today said climate change is real, citing a new report out wednesday by nasa, and noah, national oceanic atmospheric association.

more is expected if the planet continues on the same warning trend. john joins us with more on another record year, jake. >> reporter: it is, tony, and we sort of knew what when these two agency, noah and nasa came out with their parallel findings, they used the same date a. but came to the same conclusions of working separately with one another, we knew that there was going to be a surprise about 2015, but what they announced was unprecedented. millions of acres of forest land burned to a crisp. rain so severe that bridges and roads were washed away. billions of dollars in damage. these are just a few affects of strange and severe weather in the u.s. and in the world last year. >> 2015 was the warmest year on record by a sizeable amount. >> reporter: 2015 set a terrible new standard for the planet, shattering records,

warmer even than 2014, which had been the hottest year on record. >> reporter: if you look at the surface temperature record, which goes back to 1980, you notice that 15 of the 16 warmest years have all occurred since 2000. this tells that you something is happening. it tells you the climate is warming, and this is due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. >> reporter: the united states was hit especially hard. according to noaa, national oceanic atmospheric association, it's the third wettest year since 1965, and it's causing hazards across the world. last year, cyclone chipalla was the first cyclone storm in yemen in history. india lost 2,000 people, dead

between may and june, that saw temperatures 118° fahrenheit. there's no relief in hong kong. it saw it's hottest june to september period on record. >> when you see that certain times it was colder, and at other times, it was not as warm. but we're at one of the warmest periods for the past one or two million years right now. >> reporter: el nino may be partly to blame for the balmy temperatures in december. the weather patterns moving heat from the oceans into the air. >> it definitely affects weather patterns from more extreme events. as the atmosphere warms, it can hold more water vapor, and this is why we're seeing a greater frequency of heavier rains and snowfalls. >> reporter: the question now, will 2016 break records again? tony, it does seem, according to what was announced today,

that scientists it can 2016 to be another record-breaking year, and all of the projects so far about sea level rises and everything else, are what was coming before. and now that this is broken, it changes the math in ways that cannot be anticipated. >> so jake, we're in an election year, so in the political spin cycle things, there was talk that global warming may be slowing down, and what does this information say about that argument? >> well, it really blows it away. there was an argument that since the last el nino year, there had been a pause in global warming, but the scientists were specific that this blows all of that away. we're seeing a greater acceleration of global warming and climate change. and this is going to get worse before it's getting better. we're not seeing a pause, and it's accelerating in its effects. >> jacob ward in san francisco,

and a disturbing warning about the oceans. they're filling up with classic, and soon there may be more plastic than fish. >> reporter: researchers working for the world economic forum say about 8 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year. that's about one garbage load of waste every minute, and by 2050, there may be more classic in the ocean than fish. >> from whales being entangled. and dolphins, turtles, et are a, being choked and brown. >> reporter: he has long warned about the effects of plastic pollution. >> we have to stop the mess. beach cleanups are essential, but until we stop creating the mess in the first place, we're going to be picking up other people's garage. >> reporter: conserveties have been talking about it for

years. debris collected from the water, and some like microplastics, smaller than a fingernail, are difficult to cleanup. >> i found it in a 5 minute search. >> but more plastics were being made and dumped every year, and production of the material is expected to double over the next two decades. the concern is adding to the oceans and ending up in the foot supply. >> cutting down on single use plastic, and cutting down on the bags that we use, and recognizing that marine debris is a problem that we're all part of it. and it's something that we can all take responsibility for. >> reporter: the report agrees with that, and suggests ways to reuse plastics so they don't end up in the ocean. >> up next on the program, a stunning discovery in space. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

>> right now. >> hi there tony. and we begin with yet another selloff on wall street. the dow closed down nearly 250 points today. that was after bouncing back from more than 550 points earlier in the day. many blame falling oil price. crude oil fell nearly $2 a barrel. to fall to its lowest point in 13 years. john terret is here. john. >> the world is simply swimming in crude, so much so that it's still knocking down prices per barrel and taking the dow with it. falling oil prices and no end in sight. that's what sparked another rocky day on wall street. oil and gas prices led the day, the dow closed down 2%. the reason the price of crude