Climate Change Over the Last 130 Years

A recent article by Leslie McCarthy, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says:

“The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists. The finding continues a trend in which nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000.”

This finding affirms recent trends and illustrates their difference from a longer-term temperature trends. This decade can be seen in a better perspective by looking at the long term. These records date from 1880, the earliest there are reliable global indicators.

“NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which monitors global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis, released an updated analysis that shows temperatures around the globe in 2011 compared to the average global temperature from the mid-20th century. The comparison shows how Earth continues to experience warmer temperatures than several decades ago. The average temperature around the globe in 2011 was 0.92 degrees F (0.51 C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline.”

Watch the time series at the article web site. It gives hints as to the variety of climate impacts but also suggests elements noted in longer-term trends.

http://climate.nasa.gov/news/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=668