1
00:00:00,090 --> 00:00:04,110
[off camera] The last two year broke former global temperature records, so all eyes 

2
00:00:04,130 --> 00:00:08,210
are on 2016. NASA just released its

3
00:00:08,230 --> 00:00:12,340
updated global temperature analysis for the first six months of the year. 

4
00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:16,530
We have Dr. Compton Tucker with us to talk to us about

5
00:00:16,550 --> 00:00:20,590
the new findings. Thanks for joining us. [Tucker] I'm happy to be here

6
00:00:20,610 --> 00:00:24,670
Yes it's correct. What NASA has done is we've analyzed the surface temperature

7
00:00:24,690 --> 00:00:28,780
data for the first six months of every year and

8
00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,870
we found that January to June 2016 was the warmest 

9
00:00:32,890 --> 00:00:36,890
first half of every year all the way back to 1880.

10
00:00:36,910 --> 00:00:40,970
[off camera] And what are some of the impacts of this heat?

11
00:00:40,990 --> 00:00:45,090
[Tucker] Some of the impacts we see when we look at the map where the warmer temperatures are

12
00:00:45,110 --> 00:00:49,240
they're all in the far north. And so NASA is also studying

13
00:00:49,260 --> 00:00:53,280
ice in the Arctic Ocean and ice in Greenland.

14
00:00:53,300 --> 00:00:57,310
[off camera] So NASA scientists are actually in the Arctic right now. How are they

15
00:00:57,330 --> 00:00:57,350
observing these changes?

16
00:00:57,370 --> 00:01:01,420
[Tucker] What NASA scientists are doing right now

17
00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,540
based out of Alaska, they have a project called Operation IceBridge

18
00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,580
where they fly NASA instruments, the same instruments we have on satellites

19
00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,690
They fly them in airplanes, so they are much closer to the surface

20
00:01:13,710 --> 00:01:17,790
They fly over the Arctic Ocean to study Arctic sea ice. 

21
00:01:17,810 --> 00:01:21,950
They fly them over Greenland to study the ice sheet in Greenland.

22
00:01:21,970 --> 00:01:26,000
[off camera] How does the science help us plan for the future? 

23
00:01:26,020 --> 00:01:30,070
[Tucker] It's important to collect observations so you understand what's happening

24
00:01:30,090 --> 00:01:34,200
and where it's happening. With satellites we go around the Earth

25
00:01:34,220 --> 00:01:38,330
every day, we have a lot of satellite data. We know about weather patterns

26
00:01:38,350 --> 00:01:42,410
and the jet stream. And we also know about droughts

27
00:01:42,430 --> 00:01:46,450
and we also know about forest fires. Because droughts and forest fires are

28
00:01:46,470 --> 00:01:50,530
caused both when it's very warm and it doesn't rain for

29
00:01:50,550 --> 00:01:54,640
a period of time. These are very important things to know 

30
00:01:54,660 --> 00:01:58,800
about them. [off camera] Where can we go to learn more?

31
00:01:58,820 --> 00:02:02,880
[Tucker] You can learn more about this by going to hashtag #Earth

32
00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:06,970
Right Now. There's lots of information which NASA provides. 

33
00:02:06,990 --> 00:02:11,311
[off camera] Thank you so much Dr. Compton Tucker. [Tucker] You're welcome.