Long-Term Climate Warming Trend Sunstained in 2013
 
Jan. 21, 2014:  NASA scientists say 2013 tied with 2009 and 2006 for the
seventh warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global
temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 134-year
record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the warmest
years on record.
 
NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which analyzes
global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis, released an updated report
Tuesday on temperatures around the globe in 2013. The comparison shows how
Earth continues to experience temperatures warmer than those measured several
decades ago.
 
"Long-term trends in surface temperatures are unusual and 2013 adds to the
evidence for ongoing climate change," GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt said.
"While one year or one season can be affected by random weather events, this
analysis shows the necessity for continued, long-term monitoring."
 
[There were some global pictures here, but when I clicked on them, I was sent
to a "Countdown to Pluto" video]
 
 NASA's global temperature data and trends since 1950. Image Credit: NASA's
Earth Observatory [Larger image]
 
The average temperature in 2013 was 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit (14.6 Celsius),
which is 1.1 F (0.6 C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline. The average
global temperature has risen about 1.4 degrees F (0.8 C) since 1880, according
to the new analysis. Exact rankings for individual years are sensitive to data
inputs and analysis methods.
 
Scientists emphasize that weather patterns always will cause fluctuations in
average temperatures from year to year, but the continued increases in
greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere are driving a long-term rise in
global temperatures. Each successive year will not necessarily be warmer than
the year before, but with the current level of greenhouse gas emissions,
scientists expect each successive decade to be warmer than the previous.
 
Auroras Underfoot (signup)Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat
and plays a major role in controlling changes to Earth's climate. It occurs
naturally and also is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels for energy.
Driven by increasing man-made emissions, the level of carbon dioxide in
Earth's atmosphere presently is higher than at any time in the last 800,000
years.
 
The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285 parts per million in
1880, the first year in the GISS temperature record. By 1960, the atmospheric
carbon dioxide concentration, measured at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA) Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, was about 315 parts
per million. This measurement peaked last year at more than 400 parts per
million.
 
While the world experienced relatively warm temperatures in 2013, the
continental United States experienced the 42nd warmest year on record,
according to GISS analysis. For some other countries, such as Australia, 2013
was the hottest year on record.
 
The temperature analysis produced at GISS is compiled from weather data from
more than 1,000 meteorological stations around the world, satellite
observations of sea-surface temperature, and Antarctic research station
measurements, taking into account station history and urban heat island
effects. Software is used to calculate the difference between surface
temperature in a given month and the average temperature for the same place
from 1951 to 1980. This three-decade period functions as a baseline for the
analysis. It has been 38 years since the recording of a year of cooler than
average temperatures.
 
The GISS temperature record is one of several global temperature analyses,
along with those produced by the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United
Kingdom and NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. These
three primary records use slightly different methods, but overall, their
trends show close agreement.
 
Credits:
Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
 
More information:
For images related to the data, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/1ekwJaf
 
For more information about Earth science at NASA, visit: http://
ww.nasa.gov/earth
 
 
Regards,
 
Roger

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