--- title: 2016 Was the Hottest Year on Record description: For the third year in a row, the Earth saw a new record set for the warmest year canonical: https://time.com/4637064/2016-hottest-year-on-record/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-18T15:30:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:44.980Z article:section: Science og:title: 2016 Was the Hottest Year Ever. It's the Third Year of Record-High Heat og:description: Average surface temperatures were 1.69°F above the 20th century average og:url: https://time.com/4637064/2016-hottest-year-on-record/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ff33e0189c2b3cb/6988b5d9524fc039acdfabff/glacier.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5000 og:image:height: 2813 og:image:alt: View from the Nisqually Vista Trail of Mount Rainier with og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2016 Was the Hottest Year Ever. It's the Third Year of Record-High Heat twitter:description: Average surface temperatures were 1.69°F above the 20th century average twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ff33e0189c2b3cb/6988b5d9524fc039acdfabff/glacier.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 2016 Was the Hottest Year Ever. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6e3aa03d-4ddd-4064-bb80-3451ddfa6ba7&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Three Decades of Earth Seen From Space [Watch (HLS stream): Three Decades of Earth Seen From Space](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lYIwmkts.m3u8) (2:16)  _Published 2016-11-29. Various views of Earth taken via satellite from 1984 to 2016._ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 18, 2017 3:30 PM UTC  View from the Nisqually Vista Trail of Mount Rainier with the Nisqually Glacier (detail) in Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington State, USA. View from the Nisqually Vista Trail of Mount Rainier with the Nisqually Glacier (detail) in Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington State, USA. Wolfgang Kaehler—LightRocket / Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 18, 2017 3:30 PM UTC For the third year in a row, the Earth saw a [new record](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/2016/12) set for the warmest year. In a new report, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ([NOAA](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2016)) found 2016 had the highest globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces since record keeping began in 1880\. The average surface temperatures was 1.69°F (0.94°C) above the 20th century average. New records were also set in [2015](http://time.com/4187002/2015-warmest-year-on-record/), 2014, 2010 and 2005. While the global ocean surface temperature broke the previous record by only 0.02°F (0.01°C), the global land surface temperature broke the previous record by a wider margin of 0.18°F (0.10°C). Separate from the NOAA report, NASA announced Wednesday that it had also found 2016 to be the warmest year on record. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4637064/2016-hottest-year-on-record/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4637064/2016-hottest-year-on-record/"},"headline":"2016 Was the Hottest Year Ever. 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