Global Temperature Anomalies from 1880 to 2022

  • Released Thursday, January 12th, 2023
  • Updated Monday, November 27th, 2023 at 12:18AM
  • ID: 5060

This color-coded map in Robinson projection displays a progression of changing global surface temperature anomalies. Normal temperatures are shown in white. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal temperatures are shown in blue. Normal temperatures are calculated over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980. The final frame represents the 5 year global temperature anomalies from 2018-2022.

NASA Reports 2022 Tied for 5th Warmest Year on Record, Continuing a Trend

Earth's global average surface temperature in 2022 tied with 2015 as the fifth warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Continuing the planet's long-term warming trend, global temperatures in 2022 were 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.89 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA's baseline period (1951-1980), scientists from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) reported.

The past nine years have been the warmest years since modern recordkeeping began in 1880. This means Earth in 2022 was about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 1.11 degrees Celsius) warmer than the late 19th century average.

“The reason for the warming trend is that human activities continue to pump enormous amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the long-term planetary impacts will also continue,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of GISS, NASA's leading center for climate modeling.

Human-driven greenhouse gas emissions have rebounded following a short-lived dip in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, international scientists, including those at NASA, determined carbon dioxide emissions were the highest on record in 2022. NASA also identified some super-emitters of methane – another powerful greenhouse gas – using the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation instrument that launched to the International Space Station earlier this year.

The Arctic region continues to experience the strongest warming trends – close to four times the global average – according to new GISS research presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union and a separate study.

NASA uses the period from 1951-1980 as a baseline to understand how global temperatures change over time. That baseline includes climate patterns such as La Niña and El Niño, as well as unusually hot or cold years due to other factors, ensuring that it encompasses natural variations in Earth's temperature.

Many factors can affect the average temperature in any given year. For example, 2022 was one of the warmest on record despite a third consecutive year of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean. NASA scientists estimate that La Niña’s cooling influence may have lowered global temperatures slightly (about 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.06 degrees Celsius) from what the average would have been under more typical ocean conditions.

A separate, independent analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded that the global surface temperature for 2022 was the sixth highest since 1880. NOAA scientists use much of the same raw temperature data in their analysis and have a different baseline period (1901-2000) and methodology. Although rankings for specific years can differ slightly between the records, they are in broad agreement and both reflect ongoing long-term warming.

NASA's full dataset of global surface temperatures through 2022, as well as full details with code of how NASA scientists conducted the analysis, are publicly available from GISS.

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 programs, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/earth

This data visualization shows the 2022 global surface temperature anomaly compared with the 1951-1980 average.

This data visualization shows the 2022 global surface temperature anomaly compared with the 1951-1980 average.

This data visualization shows only the 2022 global surface temperature anomalies on a rotating globe to highlight the La Niña. 2022 was one of the warmest on record despite a third consecutive year of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean. NASA scientists estimate that La Niña’s cooling influence may have lowered global temperatures about 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit from what the average would have been under more typical ocean conditions.

Colortable is both degrees fahrenheit and degrees celsius.

Colortable is both degrees fahrenheit and degrees celsius.

This image is the single year 2022 GISS temperature anomaly as compared with the 1951-1980 average. This version does not have any titles or text overlays, except for the corresponding colorbar.

This image is the single year 2022 GISS temperature anomaly as compared with the 1951-1980 average. This version does not have any titles or text overlays, except for the corresponding colorbar.

This frame sequence of color-coded global temperature anomalies in robinson projection display a progression of changing global surface temperatures anomalies in even degrees Fahrenheit. The first frame in this sequence represents the data from 1880-1884. The second frame represents 1881-1885, ...and the last frame represents 2018-2022. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal are shown in blue. Normal temperatures are the average over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980.

This frame sequence of color-coded global temperature anomalies in robinson projection display a progression of changing global surface temperatures anomalies in even degrees Fahrenheit. The first frame in this sequence represents the data from 1880-1884. The second frame represents 1881-1885, ...and the last frame represents 2018-2022. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal are shown in blue. Normal temperatures are the average over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980.

This sequence of images are the corresponding date overlays for the 5 year rolling averages used in the first visualization on this page.

This frame sequence of color-coded global temperature anomalies in degrees celsius is designed to be displayed on the Science on a Sphere projection system. Each image represents a unique 5 year rolling time period with no fades between datasets. Frame 1884 represents data from 1880-1884, frame 1885 represents data from 1881-1885,... frame 2022 represents data from 2018-2022. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal are shown in blue. Normal temperatures are the average over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980.

This frame sequence of color-coded global temperature anomalies in degrees celsius is designed to be displayed on the Science on a Sphere projection system. Each image represents a unique 5 year rolling time period with no fades between datasets. Frame 1884 represents data from 1880-1884, frame 1885 represents data from 1881-1885,... frame 2022 represents data from 2018-2022. Higher than normal temperatures are shown in red and lower than normal are shown in blue. Normal temperatures are the average over the 30 year baseline period 1951-1980.

This is the colorbar for the Science on a Sphere frameset above. It is in degrees celsius.

This is the colorbar for the Science on a Sphere frameset above. It is in degrees celsius.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Data provided by Robert B. Schmunk (NASA/GSFC GISS)

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Datasets used in this visualization

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