July 31, 2013

130 Years of Earth Surface Temperatures

The weather has been all over the place this year, with record highs and lows recorded in hundreds of different locations around the globe. So how exactly are temperatures changing globally?

bigthinkeditor

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

The weather has been all over the place this year, with record highs and lows recorded in hundreds of different locations around the globe. So how exactly are temperatures changing globally?

To provide perspective, scientists combined temperature records from over 1000 weather stations since 1880 with modern satellite data. The result is the video below, which shows 130 years of Earth surface temperatures.

Image Credit: GISS, NASA

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Collage of classical art suggesting a theme related to somatic markers.

Business

How “somatic markers” can transform your decision-making

Ditch the old brain vs. heart assumptions, and instead think about a heart-led brain.

A black and white image of a bunch of spheres, symbolizing the multiverse concept discussed by scientists.

Starts With A Bang

How logic and reasoning can fail as scientific tools

In logic, ‘reductio ad absurdum’ shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.

A wooden sign indicating "assisted migration rep 2" in a pine forest under a clear blue sky.

Life

Moving trees north to save the forests

As the world warms, trees in forests such as those in Minnesota will no longer be adapted to their local climates. That’s where assisted migration comes in.

Historical map illustration depicting a planned city layout with a circular central area and radiating streets.

Strange Maps

Ohio’s Circleville ditched the grid system. Then it got squared.

A small Ohio town tried to escape America’s addiction to rectangular grids. It didn’t last long.

Bullet Cluster separation mass gravity x-ray lensing

Starts With A Bang

Flagship NASA space telescope faces a penny-pinching death

NASA’s only flagship X-ray telescope ever, Chandra, still works and has no planned successor. So why does the President want to kill it?

Up Next

Can We Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth?

The stem cell scientist Sir Ian Wilmut who cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996 has outlined how to resurrect a woolly mammoth by using cells from frozen carcasses.