NASA Summer 2023 Temperature Media Resources

Versions are provided in both English and Spanish.

Versions of the graphic are provided in Celsius and Fahrenheit, as well as in English and Spanish.

The term 'climate spiral' describes an animated radial plot of global temperatures. Climate scientist Ed Hawkins from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading popularized this style of visualization in 2016.

Versions are provided in both Celsius and Fahrenheit, as well as in English and Spanish.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, based on data from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, based on data from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Celsius gif: A line graph of summer 2023 temperature anomalies, with a jagged bright red line growing from left to right across the page. The Y axis is labeled Temperature Anomaly in degrees Celsius, running from -.5 to 1. The X axis is labeled Year, running from 1880 to past 2000, with the line reaching 2023. Although the data line does not uniformly go up, with peaks and dips especially in the earlier years, the overall trend is rising temperatures. By 2023, the line is above the 1 degree Celsius point.

Celsius still: A line graph of summer 2023 temperature anomalies, with a jagged bright red line from left to right across the page. The Y axis is labeled Temperature Anomaly in degrees Celsius, running from -.5 to 1. The X axis is labeled Year, running from 1880 to past 2000, with the line reaching 2023. Although the data line does not uniformly go up, with peaks and dips especially in the earlier years, the overall trend is rising temperatures. By 2023, the line is above the 1 degree Celsius point.

Fahrenheit gif: A line graph of August temperature anomalies, with a jagged bright red line growing from left to right across the page. The Y axis is labeled Temperature Anomaly in degrees Celsius, running from -1 to 2. The X axis is labeled Year, running from 1880 to past 2000, with the line reaching 2023. Although the data line does not uniformly go up, with peaks and dips especially in the earlier years, the overall trend is rising temperatures. By 2023, the line is at the 2 degree Fahrenheit point.

Fahrenheit still: A line graph of August temperature anomalies, with a jagged bright red line from left to right across the page. The Y axis is labeled Temperature Anomaly in degrees Fahrenheit, running from -1 to 2. The X axis is labeled Year, running from 1880 to past 2000, with the line reaching 2023. Although the data line does not uniformly go up, with peaks and dips especially in the earlier years, the overall trend is rising temperatures. By 2023, the line is at the 2 degree Fahrenheit point.

Celsius (early baseline) still: A line graph of summer 2023 temperature anomalies, with a jagged bright red line from left to right across the page. The Y axis is labeled Temperature Anomaly in degrees Celsius, running from 0 to 1. The X axis is labeled Year, running from 1880 to past 2000, with the line reaching 2023. Although the data line does not uniformly go up, with peaks and dips especially in the earlier years, the overall trend is rising temperatures. Instead of the traditional 1951-1980 reference period, this graph is shown with a late 19th century baseline (1880-1899).

Versions of the graphics in English and Spanish.

The chart is circular with the year in the center and months of the year around the outside. There are three concentric circles labeled with measures from negative 1 degree Celsius to 1 degree Celsius, with the outer ring being the largest value. As the years count up, a line spirals through the months of the year and around the circle. The line starts with blue hues when temperatures are below average and changes to red and orange hues when temperatures are above average. As the spiral progresses, the lines form a deformed circle that becomes larger and more red, indicating Earth’s warming up to just above 1 degree Celsius above average. The animation rotates to show the spiral from the side, with the spirals growing taller as temperatures get higher over the years. White text below the visualization says “This summer was the hottest in NASA’s 144-year record. June, July, and August 2023 all set records for their respective months. July was the hottest month ever on record."

Complete transcript available.

Between them, white text reads “Summer 2023 Was the Hottest in NASA’s Record.” On top, a line graph with monthly temperature anomalies from each year from 1880 to 2023 grows across the graph to create a stacked bell shape. The Y-axis is labeled negative 3 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees Celsius and the X-axis has each month from January to December. As time goes on, the curved lines stack higher and higher, and the colors of the lines change from white and blue to dark red. Finally, the 2023 line stops at August, the latest month we have data, and it’s clear that June, July, & August 2023 were all hotter than any previous respective month. On the bottom, a map of the globe with temperature anomalies in Celsius. Anomalies up to 3 degrees higher than average are shown in red. Anomalies up to 3 degrees lower than average are shown in blue. The animation shows August temperature anomalies starting in 1880 through 2023. As the animation plays, various areas are red or blue. By the end, nearly everywhere on Earth is some shade of red except for some places in the Antarctic.

Complete transcript available.

Additional Footage: Pond5.com, CSPAN

Complete transcript available.

Complete transcript available.

Producers: Jessica Wilde, Scott Bednar

Editor: Daniel Salazar

Complete transcript available.

Producer: Jessica Wilde

Editor: Scott Bednar

Complete transcript available.

Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde

Editor: Daniel Salazar

Complete transcript available.