Instrumental temperature record

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Measured global average temperature data from several scientific organisations is highly correlated. (In this chart, the "0" value is the average temperature from 1850 to 1900, which is considered the "pre-industrial" temperature level.) 20200324 Global average temperature - NASA-GISS HadCrut NOAA Japan BerkeleyE.svg
Measured global average temperature data from several scientific organisations is highly correlated. (In this chart, the "0" value is the average temperature from 1850 to 1900, which is considered the "pre-industrial" temperature level.)

The instrumental temperature record is a record of temperatures within Earth's climate based on direct measurement of air temperature and ocean temperature, using thermometers and other thermometry devices. Instrumental temperature records are distinguished from indirect reconstructions using climate proxy data such as from tree rings and ocean sediments. [1] Instrument-based data are collected from thousands of meteorological stations, buoys and ships around the globe. Whilst many heavily-populated areas have a high density of measurements, observations are more widely spread in sparsely populated areas such as polar regions and deserts, as well as over many parts of Africa and South America. [2] Measurements were historically made using mercury or alcohol thermometers which were read manually, but are increasingly made using electronic sensors which transmit data automatically. Records of global average surface temperature are usually presented as anomalies rather than as absolute temperatures. A temperature anomaly is measured against a reference value (also called baseline period or long-term average). For example, a commonly used baseline period is the time period 1951-1980.

Contents

The longest-running temperature record is the Central England temperature data series, which starts in 1659. The longest-running quasi-global records start in 1850. [3] Temperatures are also measured in the upper atmosphere using a variety of methods, including radiosondes launched using weather balloons, a variety of satellites, and aircraft. [4] Satellites are used extensively to monitor temperatures in the upper atmosphere but to date have generally not been used to assess temperature change at the surface. In recent decades, global surface temperature datasets have been supplemented by extensive sampling of ocean temperatures at various depths, allowing estimates of ocean heat content.

The record shows a rising trend in global average surface temperatures (i.e. global warming) driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. The global average and combined land and ocean surface temperature show a warming of 1.09 °C (range: 0.95 to 1.20 °C) from 1850–1900 to 2011–2020, based on multiple independently produced datasets. [5] :5 The trend is faster since 1970s than in any other 50-year period over at least the last 2000 years. [5] :8 Within this long-term upward trend, there is short-term variability because of natural internal variability (e.g. ENSO, volcanic eruption), but record highs have been occurring regularly.

Methods

Surface air temperature change over the past 50 years. Change in Average Temperature With Fahrenheit.svg
Surface air temperature change over the past 50 years.

Instrumental temperature records are based on direct, instrument-based measurements of air temperature and ocean temperature, unlike indirect reconstructions using climate proxy data such as from tree rings and ocean sediments. [1] The longest-running temperature record is the Central England temperature data series, which starts in 1659. The longest-running quasi-global records start in 1850. [3] Temperatures on other time scales are explained in global temperature record.

"Global temperature" can have different definitions. There is a small difference between air and surface temperatures. [7] :12

Global record from 1850

Exterior of a Stevenson screen used for temperature measurements on land stations. Stevenson screen exterior.JPG
Exterior of a Stevenson screen used for temperature measurements on land stations.
Interior of a Stevenson screen Stevenson screen interior.JPG
Interior of a Stevenson screen

The period for which reasonably reliable instrumental records of near-surface temperature exist with quasi-global coverage is generally considered to begin around 1850. Earlier records exist, but with sparser coverage, largely confined to the Northern Hemisphere, and less standardized instrumentation.

The temperature data for the record come from measurements from land stations and ships. On land, temperatures are measured either using electronic sensors, or mercury or alcohol thermometers which are read manually, with the instruments being sheltered from direct sunlight using a shelter such as a Stevenson screen. The sea record consists of ships taking sea temperature measurements, mostly from hull-mounted sensors, engine inlets or buckets, and more recently includes measurements from moored and drifting buoys. The land and marine records can be compared.

Land and sea measurement and instrument calibration is the responsibility of national meteorological services. Standardization of methods is organized through the World Meteorological Organization (and formerly through its predecessor, the International Meteorological Organization). [8]

Most meteorological observations are taken for use in weather forecasts. Centers such as European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts show instantaneous map of their coverage; or the Hadley Centre show the coverage for the average of the year 2000. Coverage for earlier in the 20th and 19th centuries would be significantly less. While temperature changes vary both in size and direction from one location to another, the numbers from different locations are combined to produce an estimate of a global average change.

Absolute temperatures v. anomalies

Records of global average surface temperature are usually presented as anomalies rather than as absolute temperatures. A temperature anomaly is measured against a reference value (also called baseline period or long-term average). [9] For example, a commonly used baseline period is 1951-1980. Therefore, if the average temperature for that time period was 15 °C, and the currently measured temperature is 17 °C, then the temperature anomaly is +2 °C.

Temperature anomalies are useful for deriving average surface temperatures because they tend to be highly correlated over large distances (of the order of 1000 km). [10] In other words, anomalies are representative of temperature changes over large areas and distances. By comparison, absolute temperatures vary markedly over even short distances. A dataset based on anomalies will also be less sensitive to changes in the observing network (such as a new station opening in a particularly hot or cold location) than one based on absolute values will be.

The Earth's average surface absolute temperature for the 1961–1990 period has been derived by spatial interpolation of average observed near-surface air temperatures from over the land, oceans and sea ice regions, with a best estimate of 14 °C (57.2 °F). [11] The estimate is uncertain, but probably lies within 0.5 °C of the true value. [11] Given the difference in uncertainties between this absolute value and any annual anomaly, it's not valid to add them together to imply a precise absolute value for a specific year. [12]

Projected temperature and sea-level rise relative to the 2000-2019 baseline period for RCP climate change scenarios up to 2500. Global mean near-surface air temperature and thermosteric sea-level rise anomalies relative to the 2000-2019 mean for RCP climate change scenarios.webp
Projected temperature and sea-level rise relative to the 2000–2019 baseline period for RCP climate change scenarios up to 2500.
NASA animation portrays global surface temperature changes from 1880 to 2021. The colour blue denotes cooler temperatures and red denotes warmer temperatures.

The global average and combined land and ocean surface temperature, show a warming of 1.09 °C (range: 0.95 to 1.20 °C) from 1850–1900 to 2011–2020, based on multiple independently produced datasets. [5] :5 The trend is faster since 1970s than in any other 50-year period over at least the last 2000 years. [5] :8

Most of the observed warming occurred in two periods: around 1900 to around 1940 and around 1970 onwards; [15] the cooling/plateau from 1940 to 1970 has been mostly attributed to sulfate aerosol. [16] [17] :207 Some of the temperature variations over this time period may also be due to ocean circulation patterns. [18]

Land air temperatures are rising faster than sea surface temperatures. Land temperatures have warmed by 1.59 °C (range: 1.34 to 1.83 °C) from 1850–1900 to 2011–2020, while sea surface temperatures have warmed by 0.88 °C (range: 0.68 to 1.01 °C) over the same period. [5] :5

For 1980 to 2020, the linear warming trend for combined land and sea temperatures has been 0.18 °C to 0.20 °C per decade, depending on the data set used. [19] :Table 2.4

It is unlikely that any uncorrected effects from urbanisation, or changes in land use or land cover, have raised global land temperature changes by more than 10%. [20] :189 However, larger urbanisation signals have been found locally in some rapidly urbanising regions, such as eastern China. [19] :Section 2.3.1.1.3

Warmest periods

Warmest years

In recent decades, new high temperature records have substantially outpaced new low temperature records on a growing portion of Earth's surface. Comparison shows seasonal variability for record increases. 1951+ Percent of global area at temperature records - Seasonal comparison - NOAA.svg
In recent decades, new high temperature records have substantially outpaced new low temperature records on a growing portion of Earth's surface. Comparison shows seasonal variability for record increases.

The warmest years in the instrumental temperature record have occurred in the last decade (i.e. 2012-2021). The World Meteorological Organization reported in 2021 that 2016 and 2020 were the two warmest years in the period since 1850. [22]

Each individual year from 2015 onwards has been warmer than any prior year going back to at least 1850. [22] In other words: each of the seven years in 2015-2021 was clearly warmer than any pre-2014 year.

The year 2023 was by 1.48 °C hotter than the average in the years 1850-1900 according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. It was declared as the warmest on record almost immediately after it ended and broke many climate records. [23] [24]

There is a long-term warming trend, and there is variability about this trend because of natural sources of variability (e.g. ENSO such as 2014–2016 El Niño event, volcanic eruption). [25] Not every year will set a record but record highs are occurring regularly.

While record-breaking years can attract considerable public interest, [26] individual years are less significant than the overall trend. [27] [28] Some climatologists have criticized the attention that the popular press gives to "warmest year" statistics. [29] [27]

Based on the NOAA dataset (note that other datasets produce different rankings [30] ), the following table lists the global combined land and ocean annually averaged temperature rank and anomaly for each of the 10 warmest years on record. [31] For comparison: IPCC uses the mean of four different datasets and expresses the data relative to 1850–1900.[ citation needed ] Although global instrumental temperature records begin only in 1850, reconstructions of earlier temperatures based on climate proxies, suggest these recent years may be the warmest for several centuries to millennia, or longer. [19] :2–6

Top 10 warmest years (data from NOAA)(1880–2023)
RankYearAnomaly °CAnomaly °F
120231.172.11
220161.001.80
320200.981.76
420190.951.71
520150.931.67
620170.911.64
720220.861.55
820210.841.51
920180.821.48
1020140.741.33

Warmest decades

Global warming by decade: In the last four decades, global average surface temperatures during a given decade have almost always been higher than the average temperature in the preceding decade (data for 1850 to 2020 based on HadCRUT datasets). 20211115 Progression of global warming - decadal analysis - bar chart.svg
Global warming by decade: In the last four decades, global average surface temperatures during a given decade have almost always been higher than the average temperature in the preceding decade (data for 1850 to 2020 based on HadCRUT datasets).

Numerous drivers have been found to influence annual global mean temperatures. An examination of the average global temperature changes by decades reveals continuing climate change: each of the last four decades has been successively warmer at the Earth's surface than any preceding decade since 1850. The most recent decade (2011-2020) was warmer than any multi-centennial period in the past 11,700 years. [19] :2–6

The following chart is from NASA data of combined land-surface air and sea-surface water temperature anomalies. [32]

Combined land-surface air and sea-surface water temperature anomalies (data from NASA)
YearsTemperature anomaly, °C  (°F) from 1951 to 1980 meanChange from previous decade, °C  (°F)
1880–1889−0.274 °C (−0.493 °F)N/A
1890–1899−0.254 °C (−0.457 °F)+0.020 °C (0.036 °F)
1900–1909−0.259 °C (−0.466 °F)−0.005 °C (−0.009 °F)
1910–1919−0.276 °C (−0.497 °F)−0.017 °C (−0.031 °F)
1920–1929−0.175 °C (−0.315 °F)+0.101 °C (0.182 °F)
1930–1939−0.043 °C (−0.077 °F)+0.132 °C (0.238 °F)
1940–19490.035 °C (0.063 °F)+0.078 °C (0.140 °F)
1950–1959−0.02 °C (−0.036 °F)−0.055 °C (−0.099 °F)
1960–1969−0.014 °C (−0.025 °F)+0.006 °C (0.011 °F)
1970–1979−0.001 °C (−0.002 °F)+0.013 °C (0.023 °F)
1980–19890.176 °C (0.317 °F)+0.177 °C (0.319 °F)
1990–19990.313 °C (0.563 °F)+0.137 °C (0.247 °F)
2000–20090.513 °C (0.923 °F)+0.200 °C (0.360 °F)
2010–20190.753 °C (1.355 °F)+0.240 °C (0.432 °F)
2020–2029 (incomplete)0.9575 °C (1.72 °F)+0.2045 °C (0.37 °F)

Factors influencing global temperature

Colored bars show how El Nino years (red, regional warming) and La Nina years (blue, regional cooling) relate to overall global warming. The El Nino-Southern Oscillation has been linked to variability in longer-term global average temperature increase. 20210827 Global surface temperature bar chart - bars color-coded by El Nino and La Nina intensity.svg
Colored bars show how El Niño years (red, regional warming) and La Niña years (blue, regional cooling) relate to overall global warming. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation has been linked to variability in longer-term global average temperature increase.

Factors that influence global temperature include:

Robustness of evidence

There is a scientific consensus that climate is changing and that greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. [34] The scientific consensus is reflected, for example, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international body which summarizes existing science, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. [34]

The methods used to derive the principal estimates of global surface temperature trends—HadCRUT3, NOAA and NASA/GISS—are largely independent.

Other reports and assessments

This graph shows how short-term variations occur in the global temperature record. The graph also shows a long-term trend of global warming. Image source: NCADAC. Global warming. Short-term variations versus a long-term trend (NCADAC).png
This graph shows how short-term variations occur in the global temperature record. The graph also shows a long-term trend of global warming. Image source: NCADAC.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, both in its 2002 report to President George W. Bush, and in later publications, has strongly endorsed evidence of an average global temperature increase in the 20th century. [36]

The preliminary results of an assessment carried out by the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature group and made public in October 2011, found that over the past 50 years the land surface warmed by 0.911 °C, and their results mirrors those obtained from earlier studies carried out by the NOAA, the Hadley Centre and NASA's GISS. The study addressed concerns raised by "skeptics" [37] [38] including urban heat island effect, "poor" [37] station quality, and the "issue of data selection bias" [37] and found that these effects did not bias the results obtained from these earlier studies. [37] [39] [40] [41]

The Berkeley Earth dataset has subsequently been made operational and is now one of the datasets used by IPCC and WMO in their assessments.

Global surface and ocean datasets

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintains the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN-Monthly) data base containing historical temperature, precipitation, and pressure data for thousands of land stations worldwide. [42] Also, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) [43] of surface temperature measurements maintains a global temperature record since 1880. [44]

HadCRUT, a collaboration between the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit and the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research

NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies maintains GISTEMP.

More recently the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature dataset. These datasets are updated frequently, and are generally in close agreement.

Map of the land-based long-term monitoring stations included in the Global Historical Climatology Network. Colors indicate the length of the temperature record available at each site. GHCN Temperature Stations.png
Map of the land-based long-term monitoring stations included in the Global Historical Climatology Network. Colors indicate the length of the temperature record available at each site.

Internal climate variability and global warming

One of the issues that has been raised in the media is the view that global warming "stopped in 1998". [45] [46] This view ignores the presence of internal climate variability. [46] [47] Internal climate variability is a result of complex interactions between components of the climate system, such as the coupling between the atmosphere and ocean. [48] An example of internal climate variability is the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). [46] [47] The El Niño in 1998 was particularly strong, possibly one of the strongest of the 20th century, and 1998 was at the time the world's warmest year on record by a substantial margin.

Cooling over the 2007 to 2012 period, for instance, was likely driven by internal modes of climate variability such as La Niña. [49] The area of cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures that defines La Niña conditions can push global temperatures downward, if the phenomenon is strong enough. [49] The slowdown in global warming rates over the 1998 to 2012 period is also less pronounced in current generations of observational datasets than in those available at the time in 2012. The temporary slowing of warming rates ended after 2012, with every year from 2015 onwards warmer than any year prior to 2015, but it is expected that warming rates will continue to fluctuate on decadal timescales through the 21st century. [50] :Box 3.1

Satellite temperature records

The most recent climate model simulations give a range of results for changes in global-average temperature. Some models show more warming in the troposphere than at the surface, while a slightly smaller number of simulations show the opposite behaviour. There is no fundamental inconsistency among these model results and observations at the global scale. [51]

The satellite records used to show much smaller warming trends for the troposphere which were considered to disagree with model prediction; however, following revisions to the satellite records, the trends are now similar.

Siting of temperature measurement stations

The U.S. National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program has established minimum standards regarding the instrumentation, siting, and reporting of surface temperature stations. [52] The observing systems available are able to detect year-to-year temperature variations such as those caused by El Niño or volcanic eruptions. [53]

Another study concluded in 2006, that existing empirical techniques for validating the local and regional consistency of temperature data are adequate to identify and remove biases from station records, and that such corrections allow information about long-term trends to be preserved. [54] A study in 2013 also found that urban bias can be accounted for, and when all available station data is divided into rural and urban, that both temperature sets are broadly consistent. [55]

Top graphic (comprehensive): 196 rows represent 196 countries, grouped by continent. Each row has 118 color-coded annual temperatures, showing 1901--2018 warming patterns in each region and country.
- Bottom graphic (summary): global average 1901--2018.
- Data visualization: warming stripes. 20190909 STACKED country warming stripes AND global average (1901- ).png
Top graphic (comprehensive): 196 rows represent 196 countries, grouped by continent. Each row has 118 color-coded annual temperatures, showing 19012018 warming patterns in each region and country.
- Bottom graphic (summary): global average 19012018.
- Data visualization: warming stripes.

Each of the seven years in 2015-2021 was clearly warmer than any pre-2014 year, and this trend is expected to be true for some time to come (that is, the 2016 record will be broken before 2026 etc.).[ citation needed ] A decadal forecast by the World Meteorological Organisation issued in 2021 stated a probability of 40% of having a year above 1.5 C in the 2021-2025 period.[ citation needed ]

Global warming is very likely to reach 1.0 °C to 1.8 °C by the late 21st century under the very low GHG emissions scenario. In an intermediate scenario global warming would reach 2.1 °C to 3.5 °C, and 3.3 °C to 5.7 °C under the very high GHG emissions scenario. [5] :SPM-17 These projections are based on climate models in combination with observations. [59] :TS-30

Regional temperature changes

The changes in climate are not expected to be uniform across the Earth. In particular, land areas change more quickly than oceans, and northern high latitudes change more quickly than the tropics. There are three major ways in which global warming will make changes to regional climate: melting ice, changing the hydrological cycle (of evaporation and precipitation) and changing currents in the oceans.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attribution of recent climate change</span> Effort to scientifically ascertain mechanisms responsible for recent global warming

Scientific studies have investigated the causes of climate change. They have found that the main cause and driver of recent climate change is elevated levels of greenhouse gases produced by human activities. Natural forces add climate variability as well. Based on many scientific studies, it is "unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land since pre-industrial times." Studies on attribution have focused on changes observed during the period of instrumental temperature record, particularly in the last 50 years. This is the period when human activity has grown fastest and observations of the atmosphere above the surface have become available. Some of the main human activities that contribute to global warming are: (a) increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, for a warming effect; (b) global changes to land surface, such as deforestation, for a warming effect; and (c) increasing atmospheric concentrations of aerosols, mainly for a cooling effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate</span> Statistics of weather conditions in a given region over long periods

Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorological variables that are commonly measured are temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, and precipitation. In a broader sense, climate is the state of the components of the climate system, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere and biosphere and the interactions between them. The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, longitude, terrain, altitude, land use and nearby water bodies and their currents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satellite temperature measurement</span> Measurements of atmospheric, land surface or sea temperature by satellites.

Satellite temperature measurements are inferences of the temperature of the atmosphere at various altitudes as well as sea and land surface temperatures obtained from radiometric measurements by satellites. These measurements can be used to locate weather fronts, monitor the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, determine the strength of tropical cyclones, study urban heat islands and monitor the global climate. Wildfires, volcanos, and industrial hot spots can also be found via thermal imaging from weather satellites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate variability and change</span> Change in the statistical distribution of climate elements for an extended period

Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more. Climate change may refer to any time in Earth's history, but the term is now commonly used to describe contemporary climate change, often popularly referred to as global warming. Since the Industrial Revolution, the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General circulation model</span> Type of climate model

A general circulation model (GCM) is a type of climate model. It employs a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean. It uses the Navier–Stokes equations on a rotating sphere with thermodynamic terms for various energy sources. These equations are the basis for computer programs used to simulate the Earth's atmosphere or oceans. Atmospheric and oceanic GCMs are key components along with sea ice and land-surface components.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temperature record of the last 2,000 years</span> Temperature trends in the Common Era

The temperature record of the last 2,000 years is reconstructed using data from climate proxy records in conjunction with the modern instrumental temperature record which only covers the last 170 years at a global scale. Large-scale reconstructions covering part or all of the 1st millennium and 2nd millennium have shown that recent temperatures are exceptional: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report of 2007 concluded that "Average Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the second half of the 20th century were very likely higher than during any other 50-year period in the last 500 years and likely the highest in at least the past 1,300 years." The curve shown in graphs of these reconstructions is widely known as the hockey stick graph because of the sharp increase in temperatures during the last century. As of 2010 this broad pattern was supported by more than two dozen reconstructions, using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records, with variations in how flat the pre-20th-century "shaft" appears. Sparseness of proxy records results in considerable uncertainty for earlier periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Niño–Southern Oscillation</span> Climate phenomenon that periodically fluctuates between three phases

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climate phenomenon that exhibits irregular quasi-periodic variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical Pacific Ocean. It affects the climate of much of the tropics and subtropics, and has links (teleconnections) to higher latitude regions of the world. The warming phase of the sea surface temperature is known as El Niño and the cooling phase as La Niña. The Southern Oscillation is the accompanying atmospheric component, which is coupled with the sea temperature change. El Niño is associated with higher than normal air sea level pressure over Indonesia, Australia and across the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. La Niña has roughly the reverse pattern: high pressure over the central and eastern Pacific and lower pressure through much of the rest of the tropics and subtropics. The two phenomena last a year or so each and typically occur every two to seven years with varying intensity, with neutral periods of lower intensity interspersed. El Niño events can be more intense but La Niña events may repeat and last longer.

John Raymond Christy is a climate scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) whose chief interests are satellite remote sensing of global climate and global climate change. He is best known, jointly with Roy Spencer, for the first successful development of a satellite temperature record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea surface temperature</span> Water temperature close to the oceans surface

Sea surface temperature (SST), or ocean surface temperature, is the ocean temperature close to the surface. The exact meaning of surface varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between 1 millimetre (0.04 in) and 20 metres (70 ft) below the sea surface. Sea surface temperatures greatly modify air masses in the Earth's atmosphere within a short distance of the shore. Local areas of heavy snow can form in bands downwind of warm water bodies within an otherwise cold air mass. Warm sea surface temperatures can develop and strengthen cyclones over the Ocean. Experts call this process tropical cyclogenesis. Tropical cyclones can also cause a cool wake. This is due to turbulent mixing of the upper 30 metres (100 ft) of the ocean. Sea surface temperature changes during the day. This is like the air above it, but to a lesser degree. There is less variation in sea surface temperature on breezy days than on calm days. Ocean currents, such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, can affect sea surface temperatures over several decades. Thermohaline circulation has a major impact on average sea surface temperature throughout most of the world's oceans.

Thomas R. Karl is the former director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). He joined the National Climate Centre in 1980, and when that became the National Climatic Data Center, he continued as a researcher, becoming a Lab Chief, Senior Scientist and ultimately Director of the Center. When it merged with other centers to become NCEI in 2015, he became its first director. He retired on 4 August 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global temperature record</span> Fluctuations of the Earths temperature over time

The global temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans through various spans of time. There are numerous estimates of temperatures since the end of the Pleistocene glaciation, particularly during the current Holocene epoch. Some temperature information is available through geologic evidence, going back millions of years. More recently, information from ice cores covers the period from 800,000 years before the present time until now. A study of the paleoclimate covers the time period from 12,000 years ago to the present. Tree rings and measurements from ice cores can give evidence about the global temperature from 1,000-2,000 years before the present until now. The most detailed information exists since 1850, when methodical thermometer-based records began. Modifications on the Stevenson-type screen were made for uniform instrument measurements around 1880.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State of the Climate</span> Annual report led by the NOAA/NCDC

The State of the Climate is an annual report that is primarily led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climatic Data Center (NOAA/NCDC), located in Asheville, North Carolina, but whose leadership and authorship spans roughly 100 institutions in about 50 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hockey stick graph (global temperature)</span> Graph in climate science

Hockey stick graphs present the global or hemispherical mean temperature record of the past 500 to 2000 years as shown by quantitative climate reconstructions based on climate proxy records. These reconstructions have consistently shown a slow long term cooling trend changing into relatively rapid warming in the 20th century, with the instrumental temperature record by 2000 exceeding earlier temperatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microwave Sounding Unit temperature measurements</span>

Microwave Sounding Unit temperature measurements refers to temperature measurement using the Microwave Sounding Unit instrument and is one of several methods of measuring Earth atmospheric temperature from satellites. Microwave measurements have been obtained from the troposphere since 1979, when they were included within NOAA weather satellites, starting with TIROS-N. By comparison, the usable balloon (radiosonde) record begins in 1958 but has less geographic coverage and is less uniform.

The UAH satellite temperature dataset, developed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, infers the temperature of various atmospheric layers from satellite measurements of the oxygen radiance in the microwave band, using Microwave Sounding Unit temperature measurements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley Earth</span> Climatological research institute

Berkeley Earth is a Berkeley, California-based independent 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on land temperature data analysis for climate science. Berkeley Earth was founded in early 2010 to address the major concerns from outside the scientific community regarding global warming and the instrumental temperature record. The project's stated aim was a "transparent approach, based on data analysis." In February 2013, Berkeley Earth became an independent non-profit. In August 2013, Berkeley Earth was granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by the US government. The primary product is air temperatures over land, but they also produce a global dataset resulting from a merge of their land data with HadSST.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global surface temperature</span> Average temperature of the Earths surface

In earth science, global surface temperature is calculated by averaging the temperatures over sea and land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temperature anomaly</span>

Temperature anomaly is the difference, positive or negative, of a temperature from a base or reference value, normally chosen as an average of temperatures over a certain reference or base period. In atmospheric sciences, the average temperature is commonly calculated over a period of at least 30 years over a homogeneous geographic region, or globally over the entire planet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global warming hiatus</span> Period of little Earth temperature change

A global warming hiatus, also sometimes referred to as a global warming pause or a global warming slowdown, is a period of relatively little change in globally averaged surface temperatures. In the current episode of global warming many such 15-year periods appear in the surface temperature record, along with robust evidence of the long-term warming trend. Such a "hiatus" is shorter than the 30-year periods that climate is classically averaged over.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warming stripes</span> Data visualization graphics of long-term trends of annual temperature anomalies

Warming stripes are data visualization graphics that use a series of coloured stripes chronologically ordered to visually portray long-term temperature trends. Warming stripes reflect a "minimalist" style, conceived to use colour alone to avoid technical distractions to intuitively convey global warming trends to non-scientists.

References

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