After month after record-breaking month, 2016 was officially declared the hottest year on record Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's the third year in a row a new record has been set.
Global temperatures were 1.69 degrees Fahrenheit above the average recorded during the past 137 years. The average land temperature was 2.57 degrees above average.
Eight of the first nine months of the year established new record temperatures for those months.
We don't expect record years every year, but the ongoing long-term warming trend is clear.
A separate analysis by NASA, also released Wednesday, found the same results. Both studies also found the Antarctic sea ice was the second-smallest it has ever been, while the Arctic was the smallest ever.
WATCH | NASA broke down the temperature changes in this video.
2016 was the hottest year on record, continuing a decades-long warming trend, according to @NASAGISS and @NOAA. https://t.co/YeZsrIopgl pic.twitter.com/53bvRxQoyG
— NASA GISS (@NASAGISS) January 18, 2017
And they did it again in GIF form.
Hottest year ever: 2016
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 18, 2017
Previous record? 2015.
Before that? 2014.
If the climate were a ball player it'd be headed to the Hall of Fame.
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