8 of the 10 warmest years in recorded history were in the 2010s, and 2019 was the 2nd hottest

The hottest decade in recorded history just wrapped up with the second-hottest year.

New research from NASA and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration released Wednesday showed that the 2010s were the hottest decade since modern recordkeeping began in 1880, and 2019 was the second-hottest year on record, The New York Times reports.

The research found that 2019 was just a bit cooler than 2016, the hottest year on record and "a year when a strong El Niño pumped a lot of heat from the Pacific Ocean into the atmosphere," the Times notes.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

The 2010s as a whole averaged 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit higher worldwide than the average in the 20th century, and the decade saw eight of the 10 hottest years ever recorded, The Associated Press reports. The other two warmest years were 2005 and 1998. In fact, per The Washington Post, "19 of the hottest 20 years have occurred during the past two decades."

NASA notes that this increase has "mostly has been driven by increased emissions into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by human activities."

"If you think you've heard this story before, you haven't seen anything yet," Gavin Schmidt, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at NASA, told AP. "This is real. This is happening."