Last updated October 15, 2021
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Global Heat Records 2017

2017 is among the hottest years on record, spawning a number of all-time global heat records, and it occurred without the warming influence of El Niño, which boosted the global average temperatures of the previous two record hot years. According to the NASA surface global temperature dataset, 2017 was the 2nd-hottest year on record for the globe.[3] By NOAA's calculations, it was the 3rd hottest.[3] (The two datasets use different baseline periods and methods to analyze Earth’s polar regions and global temperatures.)

2017 saw a number of all-time global heat records. A selection of 2017 temperature records are highlighted below. For a complete list, click here.

One of the strongest findings of climate science is that global warming amplifies the intensity, duration and frequency of extreme heat events. These events occur on multiple time scales, from a single day or week, to months or entire seasons.

The number of local record-breaking monthly temperature extremes worldwide is now on average five times larger than expected in a climate with no long-term warming, implying that on average there is an 80 percent chance that a new monthly heat record is due to climate change.[1]

An April 2017 study found that anthropogenic global warming had a significant hand in the temperatures seen during the hottest month and on the hottest day on record throughout much of the world from 1931–2016.[2] The study found that climate change made heat records more likely and more severe for about 80 percent of the area of the globe with good observational data.[2]

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Heat Waves
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Global Warming
Land Surface Temperature Increase
Sea Surface Temperature Increase
Global Heat Records 2017