According to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2022 was the sixth warmest year on record (since 1880), as planet Earth continued its worrying warming trend. Earth’s average land and ocean surface temperature in 2022 was 0.86 degrees Celsius (1.55 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th-century average of 13.9 degrees Celsius (57.0 degrees Fahrenheit), according to research conducted by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
According to NOAA, the ten warmest years on record have all occured since 2010, with the past eight years having been the warmest since 1880, as global mean surface temperatures (land and sea) diverged 0.82 to 0.99 degrees Celsius from the 20th century average. Considering that January broke several temperature records across Europe, it looks unlikely that the planet’s hot streak will come to an end in 2023.
As the following chart shows, there is a clear warming trend with temperatures in each of the past 46 years surpassing the 20th century average. Conversely, the first 59 years of the observance period (i.e. 1880-1938) saw global surface temperatures below the 20th century average of 13.9 degrees Celsius.
This chart shows global land and ocean surface temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius compared to the 20th century average.
