Surface temperatures in 2016 were the warmest since modern recordkeeping began in 1880, according to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Globally-averaged temperatures in 2016 were 1.78F warmer than the mid-20th century mean, making 2016 the third year in a row to set a new record.
The 2016 temperatures continue a long-term warming trend, according to analyses by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. NOAA scientists concur.
Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years –16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001.
Not every region on Earth experienced record average temperatures last year. For example, both NASA and NOAA found the 2016 annual mean temperature for the contiguous 48 United States was the second warmest on record.
NASA monitors Earth’s vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites, as well as airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. The full 2016 surface temperature data set and the complete methodology used to make the temperature calculation are available at press time at: http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp.
For a really cool YouTube video global temperature animation. NASA’s Earth science program webpage.