April marks longest streak of broken climate records ever
April 2016 global temperature anomalies, compared to the average from 1901-2000. Credit: NASA GISS
Meteorologist/Science Writer
Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 4:14 PM - April 2016 marks yet another warmest month on record, the 12th in a row since May 2015, and this puts 2016 firmly on the path towards being the newest hottest year ever recorded.
NOAA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has tallied up April temperatures for the globe, and it continues the longest streak of warmth ever seen in the record books:
• Hottest month of April ever recorded, at +1.10oC above the 20th century average (+1.12oC according to NASA and +0.93oC according to the Japan Meteorological Agency)
• Hottest April across the globe, over both land and sea, and for both the northern and the southern hemispheres
• Hottest year-to-date on record, as January through April of 2016 came in at +1.14oC above the 20th century average
• Sustains a 12-month string of record-breaking hottest months, since May 2015, which is now the new longest such string of broken records in NOAA's 137-year tally of global temperatures (March's 11-month streak was the previous record).
While much of the planet experienced at least above average temperatures (and many regions reached up to record levels), some anomalous cold spots still stand out -- notably in northeastern Canada, southeast of Greenland, parts of the Pacific and off the Antarctic Peninsula.
Credit: NOAA
For a sense of just how much hotter 2016 is from previous years now, NOAA presented the following graph, depicting 2016 temps so far against the current top 7 warmest years on record.
Credit: NOAA
As of March, climate scientists were already able to tell that 2016 was making a strong play for the top spot on the list of hottest years on record. Running the numbers, NASA's Gavin Schmidt predicted a greater than 99 per cent chance that 2016 would displace 2015 on the list. This months results make it even more likely.
Based on an analysis of temperatures so far, coupled with temperature trends from past El Niño events, the year looks as though it will come out at around 1.13oC above the 20th century average. That's nearly a quarter of a degree hotter than 2015, and a full half of a degree hotter than 1998 -- the last time the globe was coming down off of a record warm El Niño.
Source: NOAA
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