U.S. officials declare 2016 hottest year on record

Extreme weather patterns are becoming more common.

(Image credit: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)

published 18 January 2017

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday that 2016 is officially the hottest year on record. That makes the third consecutive year that the previous record temperatures were surpassed; 2014 and 2015 were also declared the hottest years on record upon their conclusion.

The average surface temperatures recorded in 2016 were 0.07 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than 2015's temperatures, The Washington Post reported, and each month from January through August was successively the warmest on record.