What year was the warmest year on record?
Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one, said WMO and “this is expected to continue.” The warmest seven years have all been since 2015; the top three being 2016, 2019 and 2020.
The warmest seven years have all been since 2015, with 2016, 2019 and 2020 constituting the top three. An exceptionally strong El Niño event occurred in 2016, which contributed to record global average warming. “Back-to-back La Niña events mean that 2021 warming was relatively less pronounced compared to recent years.
'Eight of the top 10 warmest years on our planet occurred in the last decade, an indisputable fact that underscores the need for bold action to safeguard the future of our country - and all of humanity.
According to NOAA's 2021 Annual Climate Report the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.14 degrees Fahrenheit ( 0.08 degrees Celsius) per decade since 1880; however, the average rate of increase since 1981 (0.18°C / 0.32°F) has been more than twice that rate.
Next year is forecast to be one of the hottest years on record and even warmer than 2022, experts have said. Met Office scientists estimate that 2023 will be the 10th consecutive year in which global temperatures will be at least 1C above pre-industrial levels, measured as the period from 1850 to 1900.
Since 1880, average global temperatures have increased by about 1 degrees Celsius (1.7° degrees Fahrenheit). Global temperature is projected to warm by about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7° degrees Fahrenheit) by 2050 and 2-4 degrees Celsius (3.6-7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.
Without increased and urgent mitigation ambition in the coming years, leading to a sharp decline in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 , global warming will surpass 1.5°C in the following decades, leading to irreversible loss of the most fragile ecosystems, and …
Even after those first scorching millennia, however, the planet has often been much warmer than it is now. One of the warmest times was during the geologic period known as the Neoproterozoic, between 600 and 800 million years ago. Conditions were also frequently sweltering between 500 million and 250 million years ago.
The highest temperature on record belongs to California's Death Valley which, in 1913, reached a temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit, or 56.7 degrees Celsius, Al Jazeera reports.
Rank | Year | Anomaly °F |
---|---|---|
1 | 2016 | 1.80 |
2 | 2020 | 1.76 |
3 | 2019 | 1.71 |
4 | 2015 | 1.67 |
Is 2022 the hottest summer?
Summer (June-August) of 2022 was a season of extremes. Summer 2022 was the third hottest on record for the U.S. Over 100 U.S. cities experienced one of their top-ten hottest summers this year.
Seasonable temperatures returned in the autumn. Summer 1936 remained the warmest summer on record in the USA (since official records begin in 1895), until 2021. However February 1936 was the coldest February on record, and 5 of the 12 months were below average, leaving the full year 1936 at just above the average.

Increases in average global temperatures are expected to be within the range of 0.5°F to 8.6°F by 2100, with a likely increase of at least 2.7°F for all scenarios except the one representing the most aggressive mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Lucas Zeppetello at Harvard University and his colleagues modelled a range of greenhouse gas emissions scenarios based on global population and economic growth by the end of the century. They found that global average temperature would rise between 2.1°C and 4.3°C by 2100.
Most climate divisions in the US experienced days when high temperatures were being made more likely because of climate change. Along the coast of Texas, for example, more than 60 days this summer had temperatures found to be influenced by climate change.
It is rare to get rain when the temperature rises above 100°F (38°C), since heat of that intensity is usually accompanied by a high pressure system with sinking air, which discourages clouds and rainfall.
Big Zero Report 2022
This year broke temperature records globally, with the UK witnessing highs of more than 40°C – but 2023 could be even hotter. That's the estimation made by the Met Office, which predicts that next year will become the tenth in a row to see the Earth's temperatures 1°C above the average.
High temperature extremes and heavy precipitation events are increasing, glaciers and snow cover are shrinking, and sea ice is retreating. Seas are warming, rising, and becoming more acidic, and flooding is become more frequent along the U.S. coastline.
Global average temperatures have risen and weather extremes have already seen an uptick, so the short answer to whether it's too late to stop climate change is: yes.
Greenhouse gas concentrations and global temperatures will not increase indefinitely — today's carbon dioxide buildup and warming trend must eventually top out and then reverse as the atmosphere gradually recovers.
How hot will the Earth be in 3000?
By the year 3000, the warming range is 1.9°C to 5.6°C. While surface temperatures approach equilibrium relatively quickly, sea level continues to rise for many centuries. Figure 10.34.
Scientists say eight years left to avoid worst effects.”
The current rate of greenhouse gas pollution is so high that Earth has about 11 years to rein in emissions if countries want to avoid the worst damage from climate change in the future, a new study concludes.
The report warns that, by 2040, global temperatures are expected to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, meaning that most people alive today will see the dramatic effects of climate change within their lifetime.
New University of Melbourne research has revealed that ice ages over the last million years ended when the tilt angle of the Earth's axis was approaching higher values.
Not likely, says Gebbie, because there's now so much heat baked into the Earth's system that the melting ice sheets would not readily regrow to their previous size, even if the atmosphere cools.
July was the hottest month ever recorded in human history, according to new data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
All 50 states have documented a temperature of 100 degrees or higher, including Alaska, while many states – even those as far north as the Canadian border – have recorded temperatures of at least 115 degrees.
A wet-bulb temperature of 35 °C, or around 95 °F, is pretty much the absolute limit of human tolerance, says Zach Schlader, a physiologist at Indiana University Bloomington. Above that, your body won't be able to lose heat to the environment efficiently enough to maintain its core temperature.
It is commonly held that the maximum temperature at which humans can survive is 108.14-degree Fahrenheit or 42.3-degree Celsius. A higher temperature may denature proteins and cause irreparable damage to brain.
How much has the Earth warmed in the last 10 years?
Earth's temperature has risen by 0.14° Fahrenheit (0.08° Celsius) per decade since 1880, but the rate of warming since 1981 is more than twice that: 0.32° F (0.18° C) per decade.
Similarly, it is likely7 that the 1990s have been the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year of the millennium.
The chance of El Niño developing is negligible during boreal winter 2022/2023, slightly increasing after, but still with low chance, around 25% towards the end of the forecast period (May-July 2023).
It also influences Earth's climate: We know subtle changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun are responsible for the comings and goings of the past ice ages. But the warming we've seen over the last few decades is too rapid to be linked to changes in Earth's orbit, and too large to be caused by solar activity.
But with its "consistently hot footprint over a large area," says Mildrexler, who was not involved in the present study, "the Lut Desert has really emerged as the hottest place on Earth."
Without the vegetation and soil moisture, the Plains acted as a furnace. The climate of that region took on desert qualities, accentuating its capacity to produce heat. A strong ridge of high pressure set up over the west coast and funneled the heat northward across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes.
The 1934 record was impressive, enduring for decades even as the climate has warmed because of increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. One of the main reasons May 1934 was so hot was because it was so dry, posting the least precipitation for the month on record. When the land surface is dry, it heats up faster.
1913 – in July, the hottest heat wave ever struck California. During this heat wave, Death Valley recorded a record high temperature of 57 °C (134 °F) at Furnace Creek, which still remains the highest ambient air temperature recorded on Earth.
🌡🗓 Heatwaves will be 39 times more common than they were in the 19th Century. On average, the global temperature will be over 40°C around 7 days a year. 🌪 Extreme weather events such as cyclones, hurricanes and droughts would no longer be seen as "extreme", because of how often they would happen.
The question of habitability
Again, the short answer is, “Of course not.” If Earth is uninhabitable in 2100, it will not be because our climate cannot support human life.
How hot will it be in 2070?
More than three billion people will be living in places with "near un-liveable" temperatures by 2070, according to a new study. Unless greenhouse gas emissions fall, large numbers of people will experience average temperatures hotter than 29C.
Holding this rise to 1.5 °C avoids the worst effects of a rise by even 2 °C. However, a warming of even 1.5 degrees will still result in large-scale drought, famine, heat stress, species die-off, loss of entire ecosystems, and loss of habitable land, throwing more than 100 million into poverty.
The world population is expected to reach 8.5 billion people by 2030. India will overtake China as the most populated country on Earth. Nigeria will overtake the US as the third most populous country in the world. The fastest-growing demographic will be the elderly: 65+ people will hit one billion by 2030.
In 100 years, oceans will most likely rise, displacing many people, and it will continue to become warm and acidic. Natural disasters like wildfires and hurricanes will continue to be very common and water resources could be scarce. NASA is researching earth to make observations that will benefit everyone.
The study team discovered that greenhouse gases have been the major cause of rising temperatures in the past and will likely continue to be the key contributing factor in the future, with models indicating that severe heat wave events will rise by more than 30 percentage points in the coming years.
Most recently, a study published in Science concluded that we may have already crossed some tipping point thresholds with the 1.1 degrees Celsius of global warming that humans have caused so far. More will become likely if we surpass the 1.5-degree threshold.
Dallol, Ethiopia
It's the hottest year-round spot in the world, with the average annual high temperature coming in at a blistering 106.1 degrees F.
Earth's temperature has risen by 0.14° Fahrenheit (0.08° Celsius) per decade since 1880, but the rate of warming since 1981 is more than twice that: 0.32° F (0.18° C) per decade.
Ranking Global Temperature
Global temperature data document a warming trend since the mid-1970s. The warmest years globally have all occurred since 2005, with the top ten being 2016, 2020, 2019, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2014, 2010, 2013 and 2005 (tied), respectively.
NASA scientists, who conducted a separate but similar analysis, have determined that 2020 ties 2016 as the warmest year on record, sharing the first-place spot.
How warm will the Earth be in 100 years?
Increases in average global temperatures are expected to be within the range of 0.5°F to 8.6°F by 2100, with a likely increase of at least 2.7°F for all scenarios except the one representing the most aggressive mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Over the past 4.5 billion years, the Sun has gotten hotter, but also less massive. The solar wind, as we measure it today, is roughly constant over time. There are the occasional flares and mass ejections, but they barely factor into the Sun's overall rate at which it loses mass.
For the last 50 years, global temperature rose at an average rate of about 0.13°C (around one-quarter degree Fahrenheit) per decade-almost twice as fast as the 0.07°C per decade increase observed over the previous half-century.
Global surface temperature has been measured since 1880 at a network of ground-based and ocean-based sites. Over the last century, the average surface temperature of the Earth has increased by about 1.0o F. The eleven warmest years this century have all occurred since 1980, with 1995 the warmest on record.
Scientists said that the 1990s had been the hottest decade for the past 1,000 years in the Northern Hemisphere.
The 2010s were by far the hottest decade on record. Every decade has averaged hotter than the prior one since the 1960s.
The year 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer because of severe climate abnormalities that caused average global temperatures to decrease by 0.4–0.7 °C (0.7–1 °F).
The past year's temperatures were only barely surpassed by 2005, the warmest recorded year, and tied with a cluster of others — 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007 — as second warmest.
2017 was one of three warmest years on record, international report confirms. It's official: 2017 was the third-warmest year on record for the globe, behind 2016 (first) and 2015, according to the 28th annual State of the Climate report.