2017 beat the odds to be the second hottest year on record

It was so hot in 2017 that a computer program threw out an entire year's worth of Alaskan weather data because it seemed like a statistical anomaly. It was so hot, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicts that Arctic ice might not reliably freeze every year anymore, and the region's tundras are increasingly green as permafrost thaws. It came in second, thanks to an exceptionally warm El Nino year in 2016. Nevertheless, the slight blip in ever-increasing annual global temperature is consistent with an overall warming trend. The planet's temperature has risen by about about two degrees Fahrenheit in the past century, largely due to human activities that emit greenhouse gases.