Global Surface Temperature

climate · earth science · temperature · measurement

What it measures. Global surface temperature is like taking Earth's temperature with a giant thermometer. Scientists combine how warm the oceans are with how warm the air above land is to get one average number for the whole planet.

How we measure it. Weather stations on land and satellites in space collect temperature information from all over Earth. These measurements are combined and averaged together to show whether our planet is getting warmer or cooler over time.

Looking way back. For times before modern tools existed, scientists use clues from nature like tree rings, coral skeletons, and ice cores (frozen layers) to figure out what Earth's temperature was hundreds or thousands of years ago.

Rising temperatures. Scientists have noticed that global surface temperature has been going up over recent decades. This rising trend is strong evidence that Earth's climate is changing, and it shows that human activities like burning fossil fuels are warming our planet.