2021 tied for 6th warmest year in continuation trend, NASA Analysis shows (Statement) – Is it up with that?
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Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2021 tied with 2018 is the sixth warmest on record, according to independent analyzes conducted by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). ).
Continuing the planet’s long-term warming trend, global temperatures in 2021 will be 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.85 degrees Celsius) higher than the NASA baseline average, according to the scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. NASA uses the period 1951-1980 as a baseline to see how global temperatures change over time.
Collectively, the past eight years have been the warmest since modern record-keeping began in 1880. This annual temperature data makes up global temperature record – tell scientists the planet is warming.
According to NASA’s temperature records, Earth in 2021 will be about 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 1.1 degrees Celsius) warmer than the average at the end of the 19th century, at the start of the industrial revolution.
“The science leaves no room for doubt: Climate change is the existential threat of our time,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Eight of the 10 warmest years on our planet occurred in the last decade, a fact that indisputably underscores the need for bold action to protect the future of our country – and of the world. mankind. NASA’s scientific research into how the Earth is changing and warming will guide communities around the world, helping humanity confront the climate and mitigate its devastating effects.”
This global warming trend is due to human activities that have increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The planet has seen the effects of global warming: Arctic sea ice is decreasing, sea level is rising, Wildfires are getting more serious and Animal migration patterns are changing. Understanding how the planet is changing – and how quickly that change is happening – is crucial for humanity to prepare and adapt to a warmer world.
Weather stations, ships and ocean buoys around the globe record the temperature at the Earth’s surface throughout the year. These ground-based surface temperature measurements are validated with satellite data from the Atmospheric Infrared Acoustic Gauge (AIRS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Scientists analyze these measurements using computer algorithms to deal with uncertainty in the data and quality control to calculate the difference in global average surface temperatures for each year. NASA compares that average global temperature to the base period 1951-1980. That baseline includes climate patterns and unusually hot or cold years due to other factors, ensuring that it includes natural variations in Earth’s temperature.
Many factors influence the average temperature in any given year, such as the La Nina and El Nino climate patterns in the tropical Pacific. For example, 2021 is La Nina, and NASA scientists estimate that it could have cooled global temperatures by about 0.06 degrees Fahrenheit (0.03 degrees Celsius) below average.
A separate, independent analysis by NOAA also concluded that the global surface temperature in 2021 is the sixth-highest since recordkeeping began in 1880. NOAA scientists make extensive use of it. The raw temperature data were the same in their analysis and had a different base time period (1901-2000) and methodology.
“The complexity of the different analyzes doesn’t matter because the signals are so strong,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of GISS, NASA’s leading center for climate modeling and change research. “All trends are the same because trends are huge.”
From NASA Complete dataset of global surface temperatures for 2021, as well as details on how NASA scientists conducted the analysis, are publicly available from GISS.
GISS is a NASA laboratory managed by the agency’s Earth Science Division Goddard . Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The lab is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the New York School of Engineering and Applied Science.
For more information about NASA’s Earth science missions, visit:
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