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[5450: Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 20...](/5450/)Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2021
Continuing the planet’s long-term warming trend, global temperatures in 2021 were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (or 0.85 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA’s baseline period, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.
Collectively, the past eight years are the top eight warmest years since modern record keeping began in 1880. This annual temperature data makes up the global temperature record – and it’s how scientists know that the planet is warming.
GISS is a NASA laboratory managed by the Earth Sciences Division of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York.
For more information about NASA’s Earth science missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/earth





Credits
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Data provided by Robert B. Schmunk (NASA/GSFC GISS)
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Visualizer
- Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC)
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Scientists
- Gavin A. Schmidt (NASA/GSFC GISS)
- Robert B Schmunk (SIGMA Space Partners, LLC.)
- Reto A. Ruedy (SIGMA Space Partners, LLC.)
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Producers
- Kathryn Mersmann (USRA)
- Katie Jepson (USRA)
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Public affairs officers
- Peter H. Jacobs (NASA/GSFC)
- Jacob Richmond (NASA/GSFC)
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Writers
- Sofie Bates (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Roberto Molar-Candanosa (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Thursday, January 13, 2022.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 12:13 AM EDT.
Series
This page can be found in the following series:Datasets used
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GISTEMP [GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP)]
ID: 585The GISS Surface Temperature Analysis version 4 (GISTEMP v4) is an estimate of global surface temperature change. Graphs and tables are updated around the middle of every month using current data files from NOAA GHCN v4 (meteorological stations) and ERSST v5 (ocean areas), combined as described in our publications [Hansen et al. (2010)](https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha00510u.html), [Lenssen et al. (2019)](https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/le05800h.html), and [Lenssen et al. (2024)](https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/le07900t.html).
Credit: Lenssen, N., G.A. Schmidt, M. Hendrickson, P. Jacobs, M. Menne, and R. Ruedy, 2024: [A GISTEMPv4 observational uncertainty ensemble](https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/le07900t.html). J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 129, no. 17, e2023JD040179, doi:10.1029/2023JD040179.
This dataset can be found at: https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/
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