Tiempo Climate Portal
Global surface air temperature
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Featured sites
The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network works to improve management and conservation of coral reefs by providing manuals, equipment, databases, training, problem solving, and helps with finding funds for reef monitoring.
The Cities for Climate Protection Campaign assists cities to adopt policies and implement quantifiable measures to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and enhance urban livebility and sustainability.
zerocarbonbritain details how Britain can eliminate emissions from fossil fuels in 20 years and break dependence on imported energy.
Plan B, from the Earth Policy Institute, details how to rescue a planet under stress by cutting carbon emissions 80 per cent by 2020.
And finally,
Lorraine Berry was commissioned by the Environmental Change Network to produce a web-based creative work, as Seasons Change, drawing on data and knowledge concerning climate change.
About the Portal
The Tiempo Climate Portal provides access to carefully selected documents, websites and other resources concerned with climate and sustainable development. It is edited by Mick Kelly and Sarah Granich and maintained by Mick Kelly and Mike Salmon.
Part of the Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary, Tiempo Climate Newswatch is hosted by the Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia.
The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary is a co-production of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development, sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
While every effort is made to ensure that information on this site, and on other sites that are referenced here, is accurate, no liability for loss or damage resulting from use of this information can be accepted.
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Annual global surface air temperatures as departures from the 1961-90 mean |
The global surface air temperature record is the main indicator of the state of the global climate system. It is commonly used in efforts to detect the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on climate.
The global, Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere temperature records can be downloaded from the Climatic Research Unit web site. The data are presented as monthly and annual departures in degrees Celsius from the relevant monthly mean for the period 1961-90.
Discussion
The global surface air temperature record shows that an overall warming of about 0.5°Celsius has occurred since the middle of the 19th century, in keeping with model predictions of the effect of the changing atmospheric composition over that time.
The warming has, however, been variable in strength with two periods of marked warming — during the 1920s and 1930s and in recent decades — punctuating periods when global temperature remained relatively stable.
The records for the Northern and Southern Hemisphere show similar trends.
Accounting for the variations in large-scale surface air temperature is a major focus of climate research.
The global temperature record is based on many millions of observations taken at standard meteorological stations on land and by so-called ships of opportunity in marine areas.
The reliability of the record has been subject to considerable attention. The spatial representativeness of the record is obviously more limited in the earlier years but even during the 19th century it is sufficient to define long-term trends (though perhaps not year-to-year variations).
Data availability
The gridded surface air temperature data set on which the large-scale averages are based can be downloaded. Other data sets are also available.
On the Web
Information sheets on the global temperature record and causes of temperature change are available.
Acknowledgements
The gridded global temperature data set used to produce large-scale temperature averages is maintained by the , University of East Anglia, and the Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom.
Bright Ideas
New York's Del Posto restaurant no longer supplies bottled water to its customers, citing transportation, packaging and the absurdity of moving water all over the world
The AIRPod, carrying three adults and a child, runs on compressed air at one euro per 200km
The Zero S is a high performance electric motorcycle with half the weight of a normal bike
The E3 electric tricycle is an eco-friendly, sustainable mini-taxi, zero emissions and zero noise
The Save La Mesa Watershed Project has created a 33 hectare public park, a venue for healthful recreation and a true forest experience, a living classroom
The GeoBulb LED light bulb uses 7.5 watts of power to provide as much light as a 60-watt incandescent light bulb and has a lifespan of ten years
Mumbai-based company Crompton Greaves has partnered with Lemnis Lighting to promote LED lighting products in India
Schools in Joondalup, Australia, can participate in dune rejuvenation and protection through the Adopt a Coastline programme
Princess Elisabeth Station, Antarctica, is the world's first zero-emission polar research station
The Canadian city of Kelowna is equipping parks, paths and other public spaces with solar-powered LED lights
The City of Oslo uses waste to generate energy for a district heating system, part of a hierarchical waste management strategy
BioEnergy Solutions provides the infrastructure necessary to create renewable natural gas from animal waste, then shares revenues and carbon credits with the farmer
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