Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2018

  • Released Wednesday, February 6, 2019
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This color-coded map in Robinson projection displays a progression of changing global surface temperature anomalies from 1880 through 2018. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower then normal termperatures are shown in blue. The final frame represents the global temperatures 5-year averaged from 2014 through 2018. Scale in degree Celsius.

2018 Fourth Warmest Year in Continuing Warming Trend, According to NASA, NOAA

Earth's global surface temperatures in 2018 were the fourth warmest since 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Global temperatures in 2018 were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.83 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. Globally, 2018's temperatures rank behind those of 2016, 2017 and 2015. The past five years are, collectively, the warmest years in the modern record.

“2018 is yet again an extremely warm year on top of a long-term global warming trend,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt.

Since the 1880s, the average global surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius). This warming has been driven, in large part, by increased emissions into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases caused by human activities, according to Schmidt.

Warming trends are strongest in the Arctic region, where 2018 saw the continued loss of sea ice. In addition, mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets continued to contribute to sea level rise. Increasing temperatures can also contribute to longer fire seasons and some extreme weather events, according to Schmidt.

Warming trends are strongest in the Arctic regions, where 2018 saw the continued loss of sea ice, as well as mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets that contribute to sea level rise. Increasing temperatures can also contribute to longer fire seasons and some extreme weather events, according to Schmidt.

“The impacts of long-term global warming are already being felt - in coastal flooding, heat waves, intense precipitation and ecosystem change,” said Schmidt.

NASA’s temperature analyses incorporate surface temperature measurements from 6,300 weather stations, ship- and buoy-based observations of sea surface temperatures, and temperature measurements from Antarctic research stations.

These raw measurements are analyzed using an algorithm that considers the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe and urban heat island effects that could skew the conclusions. These calculations produce the global average temperature deviations from the baseline period of 1951 to 1980.

Because weather station locations and measurement practices change over time, the interpretation of specific year-to-year global mean temperature differences has some uncertainties. Taking this into account, NASA estimates that 2018’s global mean change is accurate to within 0.1 degree Fahrenheit, with a 95 percent certainty level.

NOAA scientists used much of the same raw temperature data, but with a different baseline period and different interpolation into the Earth’s polar and other data poor regions. NOAA’s analysis found 2018 global temperatures were 1.42 degrees Fahrenheit (0.79 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average.

NASA’s full 2018 surface temperature data set — and the complete methodology used to make the temperature calculation — are available at:

https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp

GISS is a laboratory within the Earth Sciences Division of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York.

NASA uses the unique vantage point of space to better understand Earth as an interconnected system. The agency also uses airborne and ground-based monitoring, and develops new ways to observe and study Earth with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. NASA shares this knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

For more information about NASA’s Earth science missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/earth

This color-coded map in Robinson projection displays a progression of changing global surface temperature anomalies from 1880 through 2018. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower then normal termperatures are shown in blue. The final frame represents the global temperatures 5-year averaged from 2014 through 2018. Scale in degree Fahrenheit.

temperature anomaly in degrees Celsius colorbar

temperature anomaly in degrees Celsius colorbar

temperature anomaly in degrees Fahrenheit colorbar

temperature anomaly in degrees Fahrenheit colorbar

Global temperature anomaly data from 1880- 2018, in degrees Fahrenheit, on a spinning globe. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal temperatures are shown in blue.

This frame sequence of color-coded global temperature anomalies in robinson projection display a progression of changing global surface temperatures anomalies in Fahrenheit. Each image represents a unique 5 year rolling time period with no fades between datasets. The frame number of each frame is the last year for that frame's time period.  Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal are shown in blue.

This frame sequence of color-coded global temperature anomalies in robinson projection display a progression of changing global surface temperatures anomalies in Fahrenheit. Each image represents a unique 5 year rolling time period with no fades between datasets. The frame number of each frame is the last year for that frame's time period. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal are shown in blue.

This frame sequence of color-coded global temperature anomalies in degrees celsius. This frame sequence is designed to be  displayed on the Science on a Sphere projection system.  Each image represents a unique 5 year rolling time period with no fades between datasets. Frame 1 represents data from 1880-1884, frame 2 represents data from 1881-1885,... frame 135 represents data from 2014-2018.  There is a metadata file called dateinfo_4626.txt.  Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal are shown in blue.

This frame sequence of color-coded global temperature anomalies in degrees celsius. This frame sequence is designed to be displayed on the Science on a Sphere projection system. Each image represents a unique 5 year rolling time period with no fades between datasets. Frame 1 represents data from 1880-1884, frame 2 represents data from 1881-1885,... frame 135 represents data from 2014-2018. There is a metadata file called dateinfo_4626.txt. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal are shown in blue.



Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Data provided by Robert B. Schmunk (NASA/GSFC GISS)

Release date

This page was originally published on Wednesday, February 6, 2019.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 12:11 AM EST.


Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Datasets used in this visualization

  • GISTEMP [GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP)]

    ID: 585
    Model Collected with GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP) NASA/GISS

    The GISS Surface Temperature Analysis version 4 (GISTEMP v4) is an estimate of global surface temperature change. Graphs and tables are updated around the middle of every month using current data files from NOAA GHCN v4 (meteorological stations) and ERSST v5 (ocean areas), combined as described in our publications Hansen et al. (2010) and Lenssen et al. (2019).

    Credit: Lenssen, N., G. Schmidt, J. Hansen, M. Menne, A. Persin, R. Ruedy, and D. Zyss, 2019: Improvements in the GISTEMP uncertainty model. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 124, no. 12, 6307-6326, doi:10.1029/2018JD029522.

    This dataset can be found at: https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/

    See all pages that use this dataset

Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.