Heat Record: How NASA Knows 2016 Was the Hottest Year

The year 2016 was the warmest year in the modern record, NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials said today (Jan. 18). In a news conference today, NASA and NOAA released independent analyses of global temperatures that each came to the same conclusion: 2016 is very likely the hottest year on record, followed by 2015 and then 2014. "You're seeing warmth throughout the world: higher on land than in the ocean, higher in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hem