The Hottest Years on Record: A Visual History

2026-04-28

Every year since 2015 has ranked among the top 10 hottest years in the instrumental record, which dates back to 1880. The year 2024 set a new global record at approximately 1.5C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline. This milestone, long warned about by climate scientists, signals accelerating warming driven primarily by greenhouse gas emissions. The ten hottest years on record are all since 2010

. What makes this particularly striking is that it occurred even without a strong El Nino event, which typically boosts global temperatures. Arctic regions are warming three to four times faster than the global average, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. Heat waves have become more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting across every continent. ClimateExplorer lets you explore temperature trends for 50 major cities, making these global trends tangible at the local level..