Animation on measured temperature

The animation shows measured temperature on land and in the surface ocean, year by year since 1880. Blue colours indicate temperature below and red colours temperature above the temperature for the 30 years period 1961-1990. Regions without sufficient observations are shown in gray.

Features seen:

* Large regional variations in temperature - illustrating that it is impossible to understand global climate from one or a few observations.

* Very cold conditions in central and eastern Europe in 1941-1942, with well-known historical implications

* Low temperatures at high northern latitudes from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s

* Gradually increasing warming since the 1980s

* Stronger warming on the northern than the southern hemisphere since most of land is located north of Equator

* Strongest warming at high northern latitudes, partly linked to the rapid loss of Arctic sea ice and reduced snow cover on land in summer

* Large variations in the tropical Pacific, mainly linked to the natural occurring En Niño-La Niña cycles

* On global average, about 0.8 degrees Centigrade warming over the last 100 years

* Data from NASA/GISS (http://data.giss.nasa.gov/) graphics from the Bjerknes Centre (http://www.bjerknes.uib.no/)

Noter sendt fra Helge Drange 15.3.2013