2019 Was the Second Hottest Year on Record

  • Released Wednesday, January 15, 2020
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Earth's global surface temperatures in 2019 ranked second warmest since 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Global temperatures in 2019 were 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) warmer than the late 19th Century, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. 2019's temperatures were second only to those of 2016 and continued the planet's long-term warming trend: the six warmest years on the instrumental record have been the six last years.

Music: Avalanches by Chris Constantinou [PRS] and Paul Frazer [PRS]

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Video translated into Spanish

Complete transcript available.

Earth’s long-term warming trend can be seen in this visualization of NASA’s global temperature record, which shows how the planet’s temperatures are changing over time, compared to a baseline average from 1951 to 1980. The record is shown as a running five-year average.

Earth’s long-term warming trend can be seen in this visualization of NASA’s global temperature record, which shows how the planet’s temperatures are changing over time, compared to a baseline average from 1951 to 1980. The record is shown as a running five-year average.

Zoom into the U.S.

Zoom into the U.S.

Audio from telecon with Gavin Schmidt and Deke Arndt

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Wednesday, January 15, 2020.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:45 PM EDT.

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