Reports Indicate 2016 Was Hottest Year On Record

DUISBURG, GERMANY - JANUARY 06: Steam and exhaust rise from the steel power station HKM Huettenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH on a cold winter day on January 6, 2017 in Duisburg, Germany. According to a report released by the European Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2016 is likely to have been the hottest year since global temperatures were recorded in the 19th century. According to the report the average global surface temperature was 14.8 degrees Celsius, which is 1.3 degrees higher than estimates for before the Industrial Revolution. Greenhouse gases are among the chief causes of global warming and climates change. (Photo by Lukas Schulze/Getty Images)