A map that reveals Earth’s emerging hot zones

We ’ve been recording planetary aerofoil temperature since 1880 , the outset of what meteorologists call the forward-looking record . In that time , planetary temperature have been on the cost increase . Now , NASA scientists are reporting that the global middling surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest that we ’ve ever recorded . So what ’s the big mass ? In the last 132 years , nine of the ten warmest on record have occur in the last eleven years .

numbers pool like this can really profit from visual aids , and that ’s where this video from NASA comes in . This magazine , which depicts global temperature data roll up by NASA ’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies , does a good chore of illustrate these long - term changes in temperature ( and the not - so - long - term changes run into from the tardy 70s onward ) . The colors you see pulsing across the function indicate deviations from an average temperature mold during a baseline stop spanning the years 1951—1980 . tender vividness like yellow and red indicate temperatures higher than the baseline , while cooler , blue color correspond to temperature below the service line .

As a point of reference , the swings in temperature that you see stand for here only differ by a few degree , but think back : on a global plate , a few degree make for very , very dramatic change in clime . You all know that , of course … but sometimes , it really facilitate to see it .