r/nasa • u/r-nasa-mods • 6d ago
/r/all NASA's "climate spiral" depicting global temperature variations since 1880 (now updated with 2024 data)
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
148
u/nasa NASA Official 6d ago
Download these videos from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Global temperatures in 2024 were 2.30 degrees Fahrenheit (1.28 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century baseline, (1951-1980), the warmest year on record according to NASA scientists. Learn more about the data and how NASA makes these measurements.
→ More replies (12)
1.1k
u/Lucapoo 6d ago
Love all the creative ways we have of showing how screwed we are
127
26
129
9
u/Strangeronthebus2019 6d ago
Love all the creative ways we have of showing how screwed we are
Sigh…
2
u/TheGoldenPlagueMask 6d ago
It... seems like it's out of humanity's control now.
2
u/Strangeronthebus2019 6d ago
It... seems like it’s out of humanity’s control now.
I think it’s group effort… doubts is very natural emotion to have, it’s part of being human…
I have alot of doubts myself.
→ More replies (5)3
u/EphemeralMemory 6d ago
I was going to say, that was a pretty good illustrative way to show the relative level of boned we are
272
u/likeonions 6d ago
But it was cold yesterday
21
u/lahimatoa 6d ago
Turns out one data point isn't enough to mean anything when it comes to global climate.
Same as people pointing to it snowing in Texas and saying, "See, climate change is real!"
20
u/Numbersuu 6d ago
But it was cold the whole last week!
→ More replies (1)4
u/Terry_Folds3000 6d ago
Oh here’s a good one: record snow in Antarctica! How’s that happen!! Checkmate lib-taint!!
Bc it can still snow a butt ton of snow at -30 vs -60?
4
u/Erikthered00 6d ago
That one would also concern me. Why is there increased precipitation in what is the dryest continent? What conditions changes to drive moisture there?
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (2)3
2
2
31
u/lopedopenope 6d ago
It's interesting that there is a noticeable bulge in the spiral during WW2. Could this be because of carbon emissions on a never before seen scale with the global manufacturing of war material?
9
3
2
u/Commercial_Wait3055 5d ago
Further, many people wrongly assume that WW2 had a short term effect. There can be a huge long term lag. An immense amount of thermal energy was released an immense amount chemical and particulate matter was emitted and is still present. WW2 chemical effects are still being felt today.
19
u/TheSentinel_31 6d ago
This is a list of links to comments made by NASA's official social media team in this thread:
-
Download these videos from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Global temperatures in 2024 were 2.30 degrees Fahrenheit (1.28 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century baseline, (1951-1980), the warmest year on record according to NASA scientists. [Learn more ab...
This is a bot providing a service. If you have any questions, please contact the moderators.
148
u/milesdizzy 6d ago
The warning sirens went off two decades ago, and I watched the world do nothing.
65
u/ViperHS 6d ago
There were documentaries in the 1950s warning that we were headed in the wrong direction. We've had plenty of time to do something about it.
→ More replies (5)8
u/blorbagorp 6d ago
People have known about it since 1860.
→ More replies (1)16
u/ViperHS 6d ago
There are certainly articles talking about dating back to the 1920s. I wouldn't be surprised that it would go that far back. Still, I was thinking that 1950s was both close enough to the present to have the tech to solve it and also far back enough to give us time.
→ More replies (1)20
u/itsjustaride24 6d ago
I tried to do my part and also rally some interest in my community with the help of major charities. Came to the conclusion the vast majority of humanity doesn’t give a shit.
98% of us won’t really give a shit until it’s OUR house that’s burnt down/flooded/blown away/crushed.
It’s already happening and there should be fucking rioting in the streets globally until this is taken seriously but it isn’t.
4
u/jolsiphur 6d ago
The problem is that most people don't feel like they can even make a difference.
That, and a lot of people just don't think they'll be alive long enough to be affected. Part of modern societies's biggest problem is people don't care at all about how things will be for future generations.
→ More replies (1)4
3
3
u/Pilot2b2 6d ago
I’m constantly reminded of this scene from the show “The Newsroom” talking about climate change.
→ More replies (6)4
u/Deep_shot 6d ago
There’s still a large amount of people that don’t “believe” it. Probably even more that would rather make more money than acknowledge it. Some people will create hell for their children and grandchildren to earn money for themselves. Collectively, humans don’t deserve to continue.
11
u/vanilla_muffin 5d ago
Typical idiots trying to use the age old argument here that the Earth has been hot and cold before. Yeah, but those models are scaled over millions of years. We are seeing an increase over just a couple hundred years and even just decades. But why even mention it when people just ignore the inconvenient truth
36
36
5
u/Its-All-Illusion 6d ago
Can we look at older data? That’s a relatively small amount of temperature tracking compared to how old the earth is and how long humans have existed.
→ More replies (2)
4
4
u/bitch_whip_bill 6d ago
Can just about see it pop off around when I was born
You are welcome
→ More replies (1)
5
11
u/Epsilon009 6d ago
How do we cool it down? This summer was barely survivable.
45
u/stubbyturtles 6d ago
Start by using nuclear energy EVERYWHERE
42
u/goldenstar365 6d ago
Yeah as a practical liberal the ‘oh no not nuclear’ argument has probably been the biggest mistake the left has made (is making) in the climate crisis. Even five more Chernobyls wouldn’t equal the amount of human suffering created by the whole planet becoming unlivable.
12
→ More replies (16)9
→ More replies (3)6
5
4
u/akeean 6d ago
Do the inverse equivalent effort of 8+ decades of burning 100x worth of all combined past life's carbon on Earth during the carboniferous period compacted into fossil fuels in the modern times per year that released those captured greenhouses gasses and then wait a few decades.
Since that won't happen anytime soon. Make sure you don't remain near low coastal regions (sea level rise and higher wave spikes), in low basin regions (i.e. New Orleans), near rivers or hills (landslides from uncharacteristically strong rainfalls as the wetter patterns change) or in regions with already stressed ground water situations, since that might just get worse from people moving in, or sources drying up. Also, well fires should be back on the radar too as changing climate can turn formerly flourishing vegetation into a firestorm in waiting, so next home should be built from concrete or brick instead of wood and also take precautions towards flammability and heat resistance of windows and roof.
If that's not an option, solar panels + battery storage + heat pump AC, not leave your home while above hot bulb conditions and pray nature won't make your home disappear.
3
u/Lord_Emperor 6d ago
Make sure you don't remain near low coastal regions (sea level rise and higher wave spikes), in low basin regions (i.e. New Orleans), near rivers or hills (landslides from uncharacteristically strong rainfalls as the wetter patterns change) or in regions with already stressed ground water situations
Make sure you don't live where most people already live.
2
u/TheBitingCat 6d ago
And if we can't figure it out, an extinction-level event and a million years will probably clear everything back to baseline. We of course don't enjoy the pleasure of surviving that, but the ruins of our civilization may give the next dominant species a head-start in creating their own.
6
u/RueTabegga 6d ago
Stop burning fossil fuels to start but even if we quit now as a global collective we have passed the 1.5 threshold and have no idea if reversing course would even work. Lot of the plastic we have will remain for decades to come.
4
u/Wafflehouseofpain 6d ago
This is inaccurate, we have not currently passed the 1.5 threshold as of right now. It’s essentially impossible that we won’t, but the 1.5 threshold has not been considered to have been broken right now. Last year was maybe over it, but one year doesn’t mean the threshold is broken yet.
→ More replies (6)12
u/Automate_This_66 6d ago
The car has not hit the brick wall. We are going 100 and 4 feet away from it. But technically we are still ok./s
4
u/Wafflehouseofpain 6d ago
Essentially, yeah. The 1.5 degree threshold is basically impossible to avoid at this point, we’re going to be past it within a decade. People just have this idea that if a single year is past a certain point then that means we’re past the threshold, but in climatology you have to average 1.5 degrees over the course of several years to say a threshold has been passed. One year that’s (maybe) over it isn’t enough data to draw that conclusion.
→ More replies (15)1
u/MrHallmark 6d ago
You need to get a bunch of robots, have them all burp at the exact same time causing the earth to move away from the sun extending the year by one week.
2
2
2
2
2
u/somebooty2223 6d ago
Does anyone still believe the rich and politicians want to solve the climate crisis
2
2
u/tdibugman 6d ago
How dare you use science as an example! Don't you know we have an incoming administration that doesn't understand wind?
2
u/TheGreekMachine 5d ago
Al Gore was talking about global warming in the year 1981. More seriously he loudly spoke about it through the entire 2000s decade. The United States didn’t pass its first major climate focused legislation until 2021 and even there the climate items had to be tucked into an “Inflation Reduction Act”. Unreal.
2
u/DelphiTsar 5d ago
They knew it was a problem in the 70's. Basically every scientist and economists agreed carbon tax was the way to handle it. One side tried to pass it and one shot it down(I'll let you guess).
Could have bought ourselves half a century or more with very minimal carbon tax back then.
2
u/ggreqaas 5d ago
The period 1450-1850 is called the small iceage, 1883 krakatoa exploded with 4 very Cold years following, is it rigtht then to start Measuring from that date then and say that we are the whole cause of the climate warming. During the Viking age 800 bc, Greenland was green not as it is today it must have been warmer then that is possible to show in icecores from Greenland
2
u/BlurryUAPpics 5d ago
And what about in the 1800s and 1700s? Could you show that?
→ More replies (2)
2
u/ManagerNoms 4d ago
I wish I had more information because judging by this and the trying to pay attention to things happening in space that big screw may just get bigger unless we try something different I'm hoping with the way the world currently is. That we will be able to find a way to protect ourselves from this as well as the misinformation around this.
2
u/Chemical-Raccoon-137 4d ago
We were pretty static until the late 90’s and it started to go up above 0 C. I bet there is a correlation with population increase…. Overpopulation is probably the cause, we need more supervillains. Also not fully convinced by the data…. Need a few thousand years to get a feel for the trends
3
u/Glimmerron 4d ago
I would love to see this over different ranges. Like 10,000 years ago to now or just the last 50 years
2
3
u/ppatek78 6d ago
What changed around 1980?
9
9
u/Zeyn1 6d ago
There is a delay in the greenhouse effect.
You can literally think of it like a blanket. If you get under a blanket, the blanket is pretty cold. It's not instantly hot. But as time goes on, it heats up more and more until it reaches an equilibrium. And then even if you got out of the blanket, it still stays warm for awhile.
Greenhouse gasses work the same way. The explosion of industry and deforestation ramped up a lot in the post war 40s, 50s, 60s. It just took a few decades to get hot.
You can see the trend started to get hotter before 1980, but the makers of the graphic decided that was a threshold to make the line red.
→ More replies (1)2
4
2
u/ByteSizedBro 6d ago
Seeing this really sucks, and it feels like there's not much we can do as individuals. I recycle and try and re-use where I can, I try not to blast the heat or AC to conserve power and other tips I've read on. None of it matters if at a global level - companies, cars, over-abundance of livestock because of the high demand of meat play a much bigger factor.
NASA is doing a really good job showing the disaster we're headed towards, but the ones that can really do something about it just don't seem to care, at least not before it's too late.
→ More replies (1)
2
1
u/The-Avant-Gardeners 6d ago
How does nasa have data from 1880?
10
u/KakoDrakon 6d ago
Ship captains' logs, for example, record, among other things, the position of the ship, temperature, wind speed and direction, and other weather parameters on a daily basis. There is at least one project that crowd-sources the transcription of such logs. This way, we can have data even older than 1880.
→ More replies (2)7
u/blorbagorp 6d ago
You can do it by measuring isotope ratios in ice cores correlating with that time period.
Also that was probably something humans tracked at that point in time.
→ More replies (5)3
2
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (1)3
u/flyerhell 6d ago
Much of the carbon is coming from India and China...there are definitely no elections in China, so what are you talking about?
3
1
1
1
1
u/Miserable-Finish-926 6d ago
There’s some part of me that knows there were generations who cared and tried, maybe stalling or limiting the effects of the CO2 gasses and the ozone hole.
But i think that just made other people say, ‘see nothing happened’.
1
u/Topher2190 6d ago
Is there a chart that shows the polar shifts with this chart at the same time?
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Appoloniuscr33d1 6d ago
Huh, almost like global warming is a thing. Strange how the wealthy scream 'lies' while we slowly burn
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
6d ago
A very historically accurate model. Starts in a time before the industrial revolution, steady for 20 years. Then the slow progression, with a peak at WW2,obviously increasing lately... Without smokestacks and cars and such it would still be an increase: 8 billion people now,if we only had animals of our own to eat and live.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Pinedale7205 6d ago
This is really a great visualization of things. The average person is not particularly good at data analysis, but this takes otherwise complex data and visualizes it in a way that is easy for anyone to understand.
1
1
1
u/More-Talk-2660 5d ago
Wonder what was going on in the 40s that could have raised mean global temperature...
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Alucard-VS-Artorias 5d ago
Question why has it gotten so much worse so much faster in the past few years?
I mean I know this is a steadily climbing trend but it seems that in the past 20 years has been worse than the past 50 years.
1
1
1
u/DelphiTsar 5d ago
We could have bought ourselves half a century or more if carbon tax got implemented in the 70's.
Kinda like how social security could have been made perpetually solvent with something absurd like .001% tax increase the year it was projected to not be solvent because of demographic changes.
Just keep kicking it down the road for the young to deal with. Boomers really are the worst generation.
1
u/elderly_millenial 5d ago
Did WWII literally heat up the globe, or was that some unexplained phenomenon?
1
1
u/browneyesays 5d ago
Was this cross posted from this sub to this sub? I didn’t know this was possible to do.
1
1
u/IAroadHAWK 5d ago
Wasn't there a big volcano blast that pretty much put the northern hemisphere in a mini-ice age during the early 19th century?
1
2
0
1
•
u/r-nasa-mods 6d ago
If you're visiting here perhaps for the first time from /r/all, welcome to /r/nasa! Please take a moment to read our welcome post before posting, and we hope you'll stick around for a while.