2020 was a preview of hotter years to come ‘We’re not going back to temperatures in the 1980s’ Share this story Photo by Ulrik Pedersen / NurPhoto via Getty Images 2020 ranks among the hottest years on record, several science agencies said today. NASA said that 2020 shares the top spot with 2016, following a similar determination by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service last week. The World Meteorological Association (WMO), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and UK Met Office all released figures putting 2020 within the top three warmest years recorded. They all agree that 2020 continued a trend of climbing temperatures, which is changing what’s considered “normal” on our planet. The warmest six years in recorded history have all taken place since 2015. We just climbed out of the hottest decade on record, and it already looks like the decade ahead will get hotter.