Annual Global Surface Temperature Anomaly: 1950 through 1998

Global surface temperatures in 1998 set a new record for the period of instrumental measurements, report researchers at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies who analyze data collected from several thousand meteorological stations around the world. This visualization shows surface temperature anomalies from 1950 through November, 1998. The 1998 warmth was associated partly with a strong El Niño that warmed the air over the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean in the first half of the year and in turn affected weather around the world. Red and yellow colors indicate warmer than normal conditions and blue colors indicates cooler than normal conditions.