If you look closely at the source for the charts, most don't actually show what the author purports them to show. For instance, the first chart actually referen

If you look closely at the source for the charts, most don't actually show what the author purports them to show. For instance, the first chart actually references a tropical average rather than a global average -- and it's well-known that warming seems greater closer to the poles than close to the equator. That said, the title is arguably correct. Because there's no good agreed-upon definition on what it means to be the "hottest year on record", such a claim is not especially scientific.