2016 Hottest Year on Record
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- Visualizations by:
- Lori Perkins
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- Written by:
- Kate Ramsayer
- View full credits
2016 was the hottest year on record, continuing a decades-long warming trend and breaking the record held by 2015, which in turn broke the record held by 2014. Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) analyzed measurements from 6,300 weather stations, ship- and buoy-based observations of sea surface temperatures, and temperature measurements from Antarctic research stations. They found that Earth’s average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late-19th century, largely a result of human emissions into the atmosphere. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) separately analyzed the data and came to the same conclusion. Most of the globe’s warming has occurred in the last 35 years. Sixteen of the last 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. Watch the video to see how temperatures have changed from 1880 to 2016.
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Temperature anomaly chart courtesy of NASA/Earth Observatory
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Animator
- Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
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Writer
- Kate Ramsayer (Telophase) [Lead]
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Video editors
- Jenny Hottle (NASA/GSFC)
- Kathryn Mersmann (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Scientist
- Gavin A. Schmidt (NASA/GSFC GISS)