April 2016 was the hottest April on record across the globe, making it seven months in a row that record monthly temperatures have been broken.
Data from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies found that the average temperature during April across global land and sea was 1.11 C warmer than the 1951–1980 average.
READ MORE: 2015 shatters record for warmest year ever
April’s temperature broke the previous record set in 2010, which at the time surpassed the average by 0.87 C.
Last year was the warmest year ever recorded across the globe, according to both NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And many climate scientists are anticipating 2016 will break that record.
“2015 was remarkable even in the context of the ongoing El Niño,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies when NASA released their 2015 findings. “Last year’s temperatures had an assist from El Niño, but it is the cumulative effect of the long-term trend that has resulted in the record warming that we are seeing.”
The El Niño that affected the globe at the end of 2015 into 2016 was one of the strongest on record. The cyclical warming of the Pacific Ocean had many repercussions, including a milder winter than normal across Canada. Though El Niño conditions have weakened, it is still present.
“Even without El Niño, this would have been the warmest year on record,” Schmidt said. “And that’s mainly due to the increase in the burning of fossil fuels and the carbon dioxide that goes with it.”
Using data from the UK’s Met Office, climate scientist Ed Hawkins plotted the rising global temperatures from 1850-2016.
Comments