Climate change indicators
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration
Atmospheric CO2 is at its highest concentration in over 400,000 years. Note the rapid climb in recent time due to global industrialization. Image courtesy NASA.
A closer look at CO2 concentration in recent years. Now up to 404 ppm. Image courtesy NASA.
How atmospheric CO2 travels around the world. Video courtesy NASA and YouTube.
Global surface temperature change
Change in global surface temperature anomalies (5-year intervals) since 1880. Courtesy NASA.
Global-mean monthly-mean surface temperature anomalies with the base period 1951-1980. V denotes the major volcanic eruptions, and m and M denote the years of the minima and maxima of sunspot number cycles, respectively. Image courtesy NASA.
Sea level changes
22-year global sea level change from 1992-2014. Since 1992, on average sea level has risen about three inches. Data obtained from TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, and Jason-2 satellites. Video courtesy NASA and YouTube.
Ocean heat content
Ocean heat content is the amount of heat stored in the ocean. As you can see by the NOAA graph below, ocean heat content is clearly trending upward.
The rising ocean heat content in the oceans would likely lead to a higher percentage of intense hurricanes. We may already be seeing this in the western Pacific.
Arctic sea ice getting younger and thinner
Time lapse of the age of sea ice in the Arctic from week to week since 1990, updated through the March 2016 winter maximum. The oldest ice (9 or more years old) is white. Younger/thinner, seasonal ice is darkest blue. Video courtesy NOAA and YouTube.
The 2016 Arctic sea ice extent minimum was the tied for 2nd lowest on record with 2007. The lowest on record was 2012.
Greenland ice sheet elevation change
Between 2011 and 2014, Greenland lost around one trillion tons of ice. This corresponds to a 0.75 mm contribution to global sea-level rise each year – about twice the average of the preceding two decades. Data supplied by CryoSat. Video courtesy the European Space Agency and YouTube.
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