--- title: Climate Change: 2016 Expected to Be Warmest Year on Record description: Next year will likely be the warmest on record thanks to El Niño and climate change, according to a new report. canonical: https://time.com/4154331/warmest-year-2016-climate-change-el-nino/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-18T00:07:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:28:54.203Z article:section: Science og:title: 2016 Expected to Be the Warmest Year on Record, Report Says og:description: El Niño and climate change are to blame, experts say og:url: https://time.com/4154331/warmest-year-2016-climate-change-el-nino/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0d96b207339d812/698875fde20a87d1f9a8eb75/climate-change-hottest-year-on-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: climate change hottest year og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2016 Expected to Be the Warmest Year on Record, Report Says twitter:description: El Niño and climate change are to blame, experts say twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0d96b207339d812/698875fde20a87d1f9a8eb75/climate-change-hottest-year-on-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 2016 Expected to Be the Warmest Year on Record, Report Says  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 18, 2015 12:07 AM UTC  Global warming Global warmingRob Atkins—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 18, 2015 12:07 AM UTC Next year will likely be the warmest on record thanks to El Niño and ongoing climate change, according to a new report. The [research](http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2015/global-temperature), published by the British Met Office, suggests that the average global temperature in 2016 will be between 0.72°C (1.29°F) and 0.96 °C (1.73°F) higher than the average temperature in the second half of the 20th century. Last year was the hottest year ever recorded and meteorologists say that [2015 will beat that record](http://time.com/4033315/global-warming-speed-up/) handily barring an unexpected change. [El Niño](http://time.com/3996227/el-nino-forecast/), one of the factors making the coming year so warm, is a climate phenomenon that occurs when temperatures in the Pacific Ocean rise along the Equator. El Niño contributes to a number of weather events, including heavy rain in some places and drought elsewhere. It also drives up global temperatures. Climate change more broadly has also contributed to record high temperatures. The report comes after nearly 200 countries reached an [agreement in Paris last weekend](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/) to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement is [designed](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/) to help the world avoid some of the worst effects of climate change, but climatologists expect global temperatures to rise in the coming decades even if the agreement is successful, Climate Change: 2016 Expected to Be Warmest Year on Record ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4154331/warmest-year-2016-climate-change-el-nino/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4154331/warmest-year-2016-climate-change-el-nino/"},"headline":"2016 Expected to Be the Warmest Year on Record, Report Says","datePublished":"2015-12-18T00:07:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:28:54.203Z","description":"El Niño and climate change are to blame, experts say","url":"https://time.com/4154331/warmest-year-2016-climate-change-el-nino/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0d96b207339d812/698875fde20a87d1f9a8eb75/climate-change-hottest-year-on-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0d96b207339d812/698875fde20a87d1f9a8eb75/climate-change-hottest-year-on-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"climate change hottest year","caption":"climate change hottest year","creditText":"Rob Atkins—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4154331/warmest-year-2016-climate-change-el-nino/","name":"2016 Expected to Be the Warmest Year on Record, Report Says"}}]}] ```