The eight warmest years on record have now occurred since 2014, the scientists, from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, reported, and 2016 remains the hottest year ever.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the highest registered air temperature on Earth was 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) in Furnace Creek Ranch, California, located in Death Valley in the United States, on 10 July 1913.
But the heat wave wasn't over. August recorded 10 consecutive days of over 100 degree heat, with the mercury soaring to 110 degrees on August 5. In all 46 days topped 100 degrees and 13 days the temperature topped 105 degrees.
Over the last century, the average surface temperature of the Earth has increased by about 1.0o F. The eleven warmest years this century have all occurred since 1980, with 1995 the warmest on record. The higher latitudes have warmed more than the equatorial regions.
Over millions of years, Earth's climate has warmed up and cooled down many times. However, today the planet is warming much faster than it has over human history. Global air temperatures near Earth's surface have gone up about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last century.
The 10 warmest years in the 143-year record have all occurred since 2010, with the last nine years (2014–2022) ranking as the nine warmest years on record. For more regional details and 2022 climate statistics, see the 2022 Global Climate Report from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.
1913 – in July, the hottest heat wave ever struck California. During this heat wave, Death Valley recorded a record high temperature of 57 °C (134 °F) at Furnace Creek, which still remains the highest ambient air temperature recorded on Earth.
Causes. The heat wave began in June when a strong high pressure ridge began to build in the central and southern United States allowing temperatures to soar to 90 °F (32 °C) almost every day from June to September.
The high temperatures are shattering previous records.
In 1976 the maximum temperature recorded was 35.9 degrees and the recent heatwave exceeded this by over 4 degrees, recent temperatures also shattered the previous highest temperature of 38.7 degrees which was recorded in 2019.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Australia is 50.7 °C (123.3 °F), which was recorded on 2 January 1960 at Oodnadatta, South Australia and 13 January 2022 at Onslow, Western Australia.
The planetary change that accompanied that warming is mind-boggling: 12,000 years ago, most of North America was 36 degrees colder than it is today, largely because of the retreating ice sheets.
The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was measured to be 70.7°C in the Lut Desert of Iran in 2005, and the coldest temperature was -89.2°C in Vostok, Antarctica. In addition, temperatures around the planet vary based on where you are.
The warmest eight years have all been since 2015, with 2016, 2019 and 2020 constituting the top three. An exceptionally strong El Niño event occurred in 2016, which contributed to record global temperatures.
The coldest year on record occurred in 1904. Earth's average temperature has risen by over 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) since the onset of the industrial revolution, making yearly cold records increasingly rare. But it's not just annual cold records that are becoming rarer.
The warmest seven years have all been since 2015; the top three being 2016, 2019 and 2020. An exceptionally strong El Niño event occurred in 2016, which contributed to record global average warming. “Back-to-back La Niña events mean that 2021 warming was relatively less pronounced compared to recent years.
The 1930s (the Dust Bowl years) are remembered as the driest and warmest decade for the United States, and the summer of 1936 featured the most widespread and destructive heat wave to occur in the Americas in centuries.
The highest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was 134 degrees in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913. That's also the hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere on Earth.
The "Dust Bowl" years of 1930-36 brought some of the hottest summers on record to the United States, especially across the Plains, Upper Midwest and Great Lake States.
On 31 January 2009 Wagga Wagga broke the all-time January record for the most days above 40.0 °C (104.0 °F) with six days recorded (the record previously being five days, which was set in 1952 and equalled in 1979 and 2001).
Are heatwaves deadly? In 1976, excess deaths across June and July as a whole stood at around only 700, according to our analysis of the ONS data, with deaths dipping below the five-year average later in July and in August. That is despite the 3,676 extra deaths recorded in the 16day heatwave window.
The subject of a nostalgic recent documentary on Channel 5, the heatwave of 1976 reached its peak between 23 June and 7 July, a 15-day period over the course of which at least somewhere in England recorded a temperature of more than 32.2C.
Death Valley holds the record for the highest air temperature on the planet: On 10 July 1913, temperatures at the aptly named Furnace Creek area in the California desert reached a blistering 56.7°C (134.1°F). Average summer temperatures, meanwhile, often rise above 45°C (113°F).
According to NCEI's Global Annual Temperature Outlook, it's near certain (>99.0% chance) that 2023 will rank among the 10 warmest years on record, with a 96% chance this year will rank among the top-five warmest.
Since 1880, average global temperatures have increased by about 1 degrees Celsius (1.7° degrees Fahrenheit). Global temperature is projected to warm by about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7° degrees Fahrenheit) by 2050 and 2-4 degrees Celsius (3.6-7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.