2016 World's Hottest Year Ever, Breaking Record Third Year in a Row

According to the NOAA and NASA, 2016 was the world's hottest year ever and the third consecutive year to break that record.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association calculated the average global temperature was 58.69 degrees Fahrenheit in 2016, surpassing 2015 by .07 degrees. NASA, which counted more of the Arctic, said their figure was .22 degrees hotter than 2015, The Associated Press reported.

Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York Gavin Schmidt said the Arctic “was enormously warm, like totally off the charts compared to everything else,” the AP reported.

The New York Times said Arctic temperatures were 20 to 30 degrees above normal in many Arctic locations last fall, causing billions of tons of ice to melt and ocean temperatures to rise as they absorb the heat.

In Africa, drought led to higher levels of starvation, the Times reported, and India recorded its highest temperature in history when the town of Phalodi reached 123.8 degrees.

Last year was the end of an El Nino weather pattern, so 2017 is expected to be cooler rather than warmer. Still, a comparison of today’s average temperatures to those in years past shows an upward trend overall, The Washington Post noted, with the trend rising faster after 1980.

NASA scientists estimate the planet has warmed about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century, a degree of warming that scientists say will have a definite impact on the planet. Coral bleaching, wildfires, and changing wildlife patterns are all observable impacts of global warming.

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