The 19th edition of our global temperature trend series is ‘just a graph’. That is because we are still overwhelmed by Break Free 2016. And because some graphs simply speak for themselves.

The progression of the 2016 hottest year global temperature record does that like no other. It shouts:

Comparing hottest years. 2014 broke 2010. Then 2015 broke 2014. Then suddenly in early 2016 we almost crossed a line we’re not supposed to cross for the rest of the century.

And yes, the above graph is finally one that shows the proper temperature deviation – that is the temperature anomaly from the pre-industrial baseline. Or actually ‘early industrial’ – here defined as the 1881-1910 global climate average. The graph was made by Climate Central – and is based on (the average of) the NOAA and the NASA GISS global temperature dataset.

Unbelievable: 12 hottest months in a row – global temperature up 0.2 degrees

With the data for April 2016 in, we can now confirm that indeed the world has experienced 12 consecutive hottest months. That means from May 2015 all months have broken the temperature record for that month (in the NOAA dataset). Meanwhile global temperatures surged by 0.2 degrees – and are dangerously close to the 1.5 degrees target politicians in Paris have agreed on.

It means we have to end coal – end the age of fossil fuels entirely. And do it now. There is no other way.

© Rolf Schuttenhelm | www.bitsofscience.org