People really fall into one of two categories when it comes to the global warming debate: those who acknowledge science and those who acknowledge FOX News, who acknowledge an audience that hates science.
If you fall into the first, then the above GIF showcasing 62 years of global warming should be an alarming notification of just how much trouble our climate is in. If you fall into the latter category, then it’s just a funny make-believe GIF.
The image comes from NASA’S Goddard Institute for Space Studies and includes data pulled from over the last 62 years, including last year which was the hottest year since 1880 at an average of 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit. Now whatever was going on in 1880 to make the planet so hot, is a bit fuzzy since there was no NASA back then, but the science guys do want to point out that the hottest years have been recently.
“With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the warmest years on record.” Via NASA
NASA’S GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt points out that the growing amount of carbon dioxide and long-term trends in surface temperature add to evidence of ongoing climate change. “While one year or one season can be affected by random weather events, this analysis shows the necessity for continued, long-term monitoring,” Schmidt said.
Buy a heavier parka and stock up on tank tops, because the winters are probably going to get colder and the summers are going to only get sweatier.