Hottest years on record

The past decade was the hottest on record, and 2019 was the second-warmest year ever – just 0.04 degrees Celsius shy of the record set in 2016, and nearly 1°C higher than the 20th-century average


Global average surface temperatures °C
(relative to average 1951-80)

1997-98: El Niño weather event contributes to massive flooding in Latin America and East Africa, with drought and wildfires in Southeast Asia

2014-19: Six hottest years in recorded history

2015-16: Strongest El Niño since 1998 drives global surge in wildfires


0.65	0.67	0.67	0.72 	0.74	0.83	0.91	0.93	0.95	0.99
1998 	2013 	2005 	2010 	2014	2018 	2017 	2015 	2019 	2016


2019: Monthly divergence, °C (relative to mean 1980-2015)

2.5 							2.36
2.0 						2.08		2.23
1.5 					1.33				1.58
1.0 
0.5 				0.55						0.66
0.0
-0.5 			-0.30								-0.46
-1.0		-1.21										-1.04
-1.5	-1.48
	Jan 	Feb	Mar 	Apr 	May 	Jun 	Jul 	Aug 	Sep 	Oct 	Nov 	Dec


2019 temperature rankings by continent

Australia: 	Hottest year on record
Europe: 	2nd warmest
South America: 	2nd warmest
Asia: 		3rd warmest
Africa: 	3rd warmest
North America:	14th warmest
       

Sources: NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies 
Picture: Getty Images 
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