Global Surface Temperature Anomolies

Global surface temperature is a key indicator used to assess and understand climate change. It refers to the average temperature of the Earth’s surface, including land and ocean areas. Scientists track changes in global surface temperature to monitor long-term trends and variations in the Earth’s climate. The primary driver of changes in global surface temperature is the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) from human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

The video above is from NASA’s Scientific Visualisation Studio. Normal temperatures are shown in white. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal temperatures are shown in blue. Normal temperatures are calculated over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980. The final frame represents the 5 year global temperature anomalies from 2018-2022.

For more information visit the NASA website.