Ecology Essay on Historical Global Temperature

The earths globally average surface temperature on land and sea has been rising. This is per the measurements conducted by different meteorological stations around the world over the century. Data recorded by NASA at the Goddard Institute for space studies analysis indicate that the temperature on land and sea have been on the rise over the century. The data was collected by the use of satellite measurement of sea surface temperature (SST) SINCE 1982 as well as ship-based analysis for the previous years. In 2016 the average global temperature was 0.94 degrees C. This average temperature was above the average 20th-century average global temperatures which were an average of 13.9 degrees C. 2016 average temperatures surpassed the previous record warmth of 205 by 0.04 degrees Celsius (Smith, 2005). Meteorologists have argued from the data recorded from the various stations that since 1970 global temperatures have risen at an average of about 0.17 degrees C per decade. This figure is more than twice as fast as the .0.7degree C per decade average global temperature increase which was recorded for the period between 1880 and 2015.

More areas of the planet show an upward trend in the global average temperatures though the rise is not uniform to all regions across the planet. Historically, since 1880 the global surface temperatures have risen at an average of 0.07 degree C for every decade. Over the period between 1880 and 2016, the average land global temperatures have recorded a higher increase as compared to worldwide sea and ocean temperatures. Land temperatures increase for the period is 0.10 degree C per decade as compared to 0.06 degree C per decade average rise for sea (Smith, 2005). The graph below shows the average annual global temperatures since 1880 compared to the long-term average, i.e., 1901-2000. In the chart below, the blue and red lines are used to indicate the difference above or below average for each year while the zero line represents the long-term average temperatures for the entire planet. Data were collected from National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The start date for the data is 1880 while end year is 2016. The surface was land and ocean (Smith, 2005).

Year Anomaly

Based period (1901-2000) Rank

1880 -0.120C 48

1881 -0.070C 61

1882 -0.070C 63

1883 -0.140C 39

1884 -0.210C 28

1885 -0.220C 26

1886 -0.200C 32

1887 -0.250C 20

1888 -0.150C 38

1889 -0.100C 54

1890 -0.320C 9

1891 -0.250C 19

1892 -0.300C 13

1893 -0.310C 10

1894 -0.270C 17

1895 -0.220C 25

1896 -0.080C 56

1897 -0.110C 51

1898 -0.250C 18

1899 -0.110C 50

1900 -0.060C 66

1901 -0.130C 45

1902 -0.240C 21

1903 -0.330C 7

1904 -0.410C 4

1905 -0.290C 16

1906 -0.210C 27

1907 -0.370C 6

1908 -0.440C 1

1909 -0.430C 3

1910 -0.380C 5

1911 -0.430C 2

1912 -0.330C 8

1913 -0.310C 10

1914 -0.130C 46

1915 -0.060C 65

1916 -0.290C 15

1917 -0.310C 12

1918 -0.200C 33

1919 -0.190C 34

1920 -0.200C 31

1921 -0.140C 42

1922 -0.220C 24

1923 -0.200C 29

1924 -0.240C 23

1925 -0.140C 43

1926 -0.050C 69

1927 -0.140C 40

1928 -0.160C 36

1929 -0.290C 14

1930 -0.090C 55

1931 -0.070C 62

1932 -0.120C 49

1933 -0.240C 22

1934 -0.100C 53

1935 -0.140C 44

1936 -0.110C 52

1937 -0.010C 75

1938 -0.030C 72

1939 -0.010C 76

1940 0.100C 89

1941 0.190C 101

1942 0.150C 95

1943 0.150C 96

1944 0.290C 107

1945 0.170C 98

1946 -0.010C 77

1947 -0.060C 68

1948 -0.060C 67

1949 -0.060C 64

1950 -0.170C 35

1951 -0.020C 73

1952 0.020C 80

1953 0.090C 88

1954 -0.120C 47

1955 -0.140C 41

1956 -0.200C 30

1957 0.040C 83

1958 0.110C 91

1959 0.050C 84

1960 0.020C 79

1961 0.070C 85

1962 0.090C 86

1963 0.100C 90

1964 -0.150C 37

1965 -0.080C 59

1966 -0.030C 71

1967 -0.020C 74

1968 -0.030C 70

1969 0.090C 87

1970 0.030C 82

1971 -0.080C 57

1972 0.020C 81

1973 0.160C 97

1974 -0.080C 60

1975 -0.000C 78

1976 -0.080C 58

1977 0.190C 100

1978 0.110C 92

1979 0.220C 102

1980 0.260C 105

1981 0.300C 109

1982 0.180C 99

1983 0.340C 112

1984 0.150C 94

1985 0.130C 93

1986 0.230C 103

1987 0.370C 113

1988 0.370C 114

1989 0.290C 108

1990 0.430C 117

1991 0.400C 115

1992 0.250C 104

1993 0.280C 106

1994 0.340C 111

1995 0.450C 119

1996 0.320C 110

1997 0.510C 120

1998 0.630C 130

1999 0.440C 118

2000 0.420C 116

2001 0.540C 122

2002 0.600C 125

2003 0.610C 128

2004 0.580C 123

2005 0.660C 132

2006 0.610C 127

2007 0.610C 126

2008 0.540C 121

2009 0.640C 131

2010 0.700C 134

2011 0.580C 124

2012 0.620C 129

2013 0.670C 133

2014 0.740C 135

2015 0.900C 136

2016 0.940C 137

Bottom of Form

Source (National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI))

Fig: A graph showing the Historical Global Temperatures since 1880

Greenland ice sheet melting

The increase in global temperatures has had an impact on the ice sheet. Greenland ice sheet is the second largest ice body in the world. It covers almost 2.400 kilometers long in a north-south direction. It has a width of 1.100 kilometers at a latitude of 77 degrees C. the ice sheet has been decreasing in since 1900. This can be attributed to the increase in global temperatures which have been recorded since 1900. The loss has doubled since 2003 from data collected by NASA. Researchers J.E Reeves Eyre and Xubin Zeng (2017) have argued that it is essential to study the past and present surface air temperatures to determine how fast the ice sheet at Greenland is melting. This is so because if all the ice melted at Greenland, the sea levels would rise by about 7 meters.

Greenland is vulnerable to climate change since it occupies a strategic position in the North Atlantic. As Arctic temperatures are currently rising, at a rate which is double the global average rate, scientist argues that studying the ice sheet melting will help develop some environmental ramifications as a result of global temperature changes. Greenland ice sheet has been lost at a rate of 269 gigatonnes per year. In 2012 97% of the ice sheet region experienced melting at some point. This indicates how profoundly ice sheet responds to changes in global temperatures.

References

Eyre, J. J. R., & Zeng, X. (2017). Evaluation of Greenland near surface air temperature datasets. The Cryosphere, 11(4), 1591.

National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). (2018). National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). [online] Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov [Accessed 2 Feb. 2018].

Nsidc.org. (2018). World Glacier Inventory. [online] Retrieved from: http://nsidc.org/data/glacier_inventory/query.html [Accessed 2 Feb. 2018].

Smith, T. M., & Reynolds, R. W. (2005). A global merged landairsea surface temperature reconstruction based on historical observations (18801997). Journal of Climate, 18(12), 2021-2036.