Director’s Message

Nov 21, 2023 | Director's Message

Yearly surface temperature compared to the 20th-century average from 1880–2022. Blue bars indicate cooler-than-average years; red bars show warmer-than-average years. NOAA Climate.gov graph, based on data from the National Centers for Environmental Information.

  • Earth’s temperature has risen by an average of 0.14° Fahrenheit (0.08° Celsius) per decade since 1880, or about 2° F in total.
    • The rate of warming since 1981 is more than twice as fast: 0.32° F (0.18° C) per decade.
  • 2022 was the sixth-warmest year on record based on NOAA’s temperature data.
    • The 2022 surface temperature was 1.55 °F (0.86 °Celsius) warmer than the 20th-century average of 57.0 °F (13.9 °C) and 1.90 ˚F (1.06 ˚C) warmer than the pre-industrial period (1880-1900).
  • The 10 warmest years in the historical record have all occurred since 2010.

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature