[michrassena]

You're burying the lede here.

While 2017 was slightly cooler than the year preceding, it was the second hottest year since global temperature records began in 1880.

From the same page you linked. https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20180118/

We'll see how 2018 compares. Look at the chart and you can see that it's not a straight line, it has ups and downs. I see no reason at all to assume that it's trending downward for the next few decades to erase the increase seen over the last century.