--- description: It was the hottest April on record this year, and increasing temperature patterns show 2016 may be the hottest year in history. title: This April Was The Hottest on Record, NASA Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5208531fce4315f/6988933c5f570f1184b20ee6/april-hottest-month-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [weather](/tag/weather/) ## weather Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This April Was The Hottest on Record, NASA Says  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 16, 2016 12:32 PM CUT  A participant is pictured in front of a screen projecting a world map during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 at Le Bourget, near Paris, Dec. 8, 2015. A participant is pictured in front of a screen projecting a world map during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 at Le Bourget, near Paris, Dec. 8, 2015.Stephane Mahe—Reuters  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 16, 2016 12:32 PM CUT It was the [hottest April on record](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/16/world/climate-change-april-hottest-month/index.html "undefined") this year, according to NASA, and increasing temperature patterns show 2016 is on the way to becoming the hottest year in recorded history. The space agency has released its latest figures, showing this April was 1.11 degrees Celsius warmer than average April temperatures between 1951 and 1980, CNN reports. That also means April was the seventh month in a row to see global temperatures at least 1 degree Celsius higher than average. The pattern began in February, when NASA said that month broke global temperature records by a “stunning” margin, [_The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/14/february-breaks-global-temperature-records-by-shocking-amount "undefined") reports. The temperature record in February 2016 was 1.35 Celsius warmer than usual. \[[_CNN_](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/16/world/climate-change-april-hottest-month/index.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4336786/april-2016-hottest-record/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4336786/april-2016-hottest-record/"},"headline":"This April Was The Hottest on Record, NASA Says","datePublished":"2016-05-16T12:32:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:37:59.348Z","description":"2016 is on track to be the hottest year yet","url":"https://time.com/4336786/april-2016-hottest-record/","keywords":["weather"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5208531fce4315f/6988933c5f570f1184b20ee6/april-hottest-month-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5208531fce4315f/6988933c5f570f1184b20ee6/april-hottest-month-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A participant is pictured in front of a screen projecting a world map during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget","caption":"A participant is pictured in front of a screen projecting a world map during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 at Le Bourget, near Paris, Dec. 8, 2015.","creditText":"Stephane Mahe—Reuters","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/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4336786/april-2016-hottest-record/","name":"This April Was The Hottest on Record, NASA Says"}}]}] ```