Temperature Changes

Average global temperatures have risen by approximately 1 degree Celsius since 1880 . The primary cause of these rising temperatures is greenhouse gas emissions from human industrial activity. These emissions trap heat within the atmosphere, slowing heat loss to space. Rising global temperatures have stark consequences for living organisms. Rising temperatures increase the occurrence of natural disasters, like storms, floods, droughts, and heat waves. These conditions result in more wildfires, extreme heat events, and flash floods, leading to reductions in accessible clean drinking water, destruction of natural habitat and human property, and illness. Rising global temperatures allow disease-carrying insects to survive and thrive in new places, increasing the incidence of insect-borne diseases like malaria and Lyme disease. Scientists predict that global temperatures will continue to rise to an average of +2 degrees Celsius, a temperature at which the effects of climate change are extreme and irreversible .

GISS Surface Temperature Analysis

The GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP) is a widely-used dataset that estimates global surface temperature anomalies over time, with data tracing back to 1880. It is developed and maintained by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). The primary goal of GISTEMP is to monitor and analyze changes in Earth's surface temperature, particularly focusing on long-term trends and variations. GISTEMP reports temperature anomalies, which represent deviations of the observed temperatures from a long-term average, rather than absolute temperatures. This provides a clearer picture of temperature trends by minimizing the influence of short-term weather fluctuations. Most of these datasets are updated monthly. The particular dataset used here is the global Combined Land-Surface Air and Sea-Surface Water Temperature Anomalies (Land-Ocean Temperature Index, L-OTI), with mean monthly, seasonal, and annual temperatures from 1880 to the present month.

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This scatterplot shows the mean yearly surface temperature deviations for the years 1880 through 2023, in degrees Celcius. There is a clear upward trend in deviations from a long-term global average (defined by GISTEMP as a baseline value).

Sample Data

Monthly temperature deviations data for the year 1880

YEAR	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC	J-D	D-N	DJF	MAM	JJA	SON
1880	-0.18	-0.24	-0.09	-0.16	-0.1	-0.22	-0.18	-0.1	-0.14	-0.23	-0.22	-0.18	-0.17	***	***	-0.12	-0.17	-0.2

Access the complete dataset here: File:GLB.Ts+dSST.csv