Page 6 - A Hot Mess: How the Climate Crisis Is Changing Our World
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Global Mean Surface Temperature
0.6
0.4
Temperatue anomaly (ºC) 0.2 annual mean running mean
5-year
0.0
– 0.2
– 0.4 Source: https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov
1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
Year
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, scientists have kept track of the
global mean (average) surface temperature. A clear trend emerged from the
data: the planet is getting warmer.
Northern Hemisphere. And we are on track to keep breaking those
kinds of records. Even if a lot of things improve, climate change
isn’t a problem that’s going away anytime soon, so it’s one worth
understanding.
What Are We Talking About?
To best understand climate change, you should understand some of
the key terms scientists and other experts use.
First, although they’re related, climate and weather are not the
same thing. Weather is what the atmosphere is like at a specific time
in a specific place. It’s temporary and local. As many people in the
northern United States can attest, weather can change a few times
in the same day—hail can fall on a warm summer day, or rain can
16 a hot mess
