"NASA scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) compare the average global temperature each year to the average from 1951 to 1980. This 30-year period provides a baseline from which to measure the warming Earth has experienced due to increasing atmospheric levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. While 2012 was the ninth warmest year on record, all 10 of the warmest years in the GISS analysis have occurred since 1998, continuing a trend of temperatures well above the mid-20th century average."

The video has no sound, maybe because we must hear our heartbeats - getting faster with the fast dramatic changes we see here!


Data source: Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

For more information on the GISS temperature analysis, go to:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-temps.html