Climate Essentials

2021 was tied for the sixth warmest year on NASA’s record, stretching more than a century. But, what is a temperature record?GISTEMP, NASA’s global temperature analysis, takes in millions of observations from instruments on weather stations, ships and ocean buoys, and Antarctic research stations, to determine how much warmer or cooler Earth is on average from year to year.Stretching back to 1880, NASA’s record shows a clear warming trend. However, individual weather events and La Niña — a pattern of cooler waters in the Pacific that was responsible for slightly cooling 2021’s average temperature — can affect individual years.Because the record is global, not every place on Earth experienced the sixth warmest year on record. Some places had record-high temperatures, and we saw record droughts, floods and fires around the globe. ||

Average global crop yields for maize, or corn, may see a decrease of 24% by late century, with the declines becoming apparent by 2030, with high greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new NASA study. Wheat, in contrast, may see an uptick in crop yields by about 17%. The change in yields is due to the projected increases in temperature, shifts in rainfall patterns and elevated surface carbon dioxide concentrations due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, making it more difficult to grow maize in the tropics and expanding wheat’s growing range. ||

Every year millions of tons of dust from the Sahara Desert are swirled up into the atmosphere by easterly trade winds, and carried across the Atlantic. The plumes can make their way from the African continent as far as the Amazon rainforest, where they fertilize plant life.As the climate changes, dust activity will continue to be affected. In a new study, NASA researchers predict that within the next century we will see dust transport approach a 20,000-year minimum. ||

Music: "Dew" by Matthew Nicholson [PRS], Suki Jeanette Finn [PRS]This video can be freely shared and downloaded. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery provided by pond5.com is obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on stock footage may be found here. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.Complete transcript available. || ImjaLake.jpg (1920x1080) [1.2 MB] || ImjaLake_print.jpg (1024x576) [382.8 KB] || ImjaLake_searchweb.png (320x180) [109.6 KB] || ImjaLake_web.png (320x180) [109.6 KB] || ImjaLake_thm.png (80x40) [7.5 KB] || 13699_GlacierLake820.mov (1920x1080) [1.9 GB] || 13699_GlacierLake820.mp4 (1920x1080) [138.4 MB] || 13699_GlacierLake820.webm (1920x1080) [15.0 MB] || GlacierLake820.en_US.srt [2.1 KB] || GlacierLake820.en_US.vtt [2.1 KB] ||

Plants play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide they absorb during photosynthesis, the less carbon dioxide remains trapped in the atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have identified an unsettling trend – 86% of land ecosystems globally are becoming progressively less efficient at absorbing the increasing levels of CO2 from the atmosphere. ||

Complete transcript available.Music: "Reported Missing" by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS] and David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS]This video can be freely shared and downloaded. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery provided by Artbeats is obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on stock footage may be found here. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html. || Methane_Still.jpg (1920x1080) [408.5 KB] || Methane_Still_print.jpg (1024x576) [181.8 KB] || Methane_Still_searchweb.png (180x320) [71.4 KB] || Methane_Still_web.png (320x180) [71.4 KB] || Methane_Still_thm.png (80x40) [6.4 KB] || 13559_Methane_Final.webm (960x540) [62.2 MB] || TWITTER_720_13559_Methane_Final_twitter_720.mp4 (1280x720) [28.5 MB] || 13559_Methane_Final_lowres.mp4 (1280x720) [43.6 MB] || Mathen_captions.en_US.srt [3.2 KB] || Mathen_captions.en_US.vtt [3.3 KB] || 13559_Methane_Final.mp4 (1920x1080) [272.5 MB] || 13559_Methane_Final.mov (1920x1080) [3.4 GB] ||

Globally, 2020 was the hottest year on record, effectively tying 2016, the previous record. Overall, Earth’s average temperature has risen more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1880s. Temperatures are increasing due to human activities, specifically emissions of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane. ||

Music: Tides by Jon Cotton [PRS], Ben Niblett [PRS]Complete transcript available. || Greenland_Still_Two.jpg (1920x1080) [941.0 KB] || Greenland_Still_Two_searchweb.png (320x180) [152.3 KB] || Greenland_Still_Two_thm.png (80x40) [8.8 KB] || 13233_Greenland_Outlet_FINAL.mp4 (1920x1080) [253.2 MB] || 13233_Greenland_Outlet_FINAL.mov (1920x1080) [3.4 GB] || 13233_Greenland_Outlet_FINAL.webm (1920x1080) [17.2 MB] || 13233_Greenland_Outlet_FINAL_VX-303985.webm (960x540) [54.0 MB] || GreenlandOutletModel_Fine_V2.en_US.srt [2.9 KB] || GreenlandOutletModel_Fine_V2.en_US.vtt [2.9 KB] ||

A simplified animation of Earth's planetary energy balance: A planet’s energy budget is balanced between incoming (yellow) and outgoing radiation (red); On Earth, natural and human-caused processes affect the amount of energy received as well as emitted back to space; This study filters out variations in Earth’s energy budget due to feedback processes, revealing the energy changes caused by aerosols and greenhouse gas emissions. ||

The 'greenhouse effect' is the warming of climate that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space. Certain gases in the atmosphere resemble glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunlight to pass into the 'greenhouse,' but blocking Earth's heat from escaping into space. The gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).On Earth, human activities are changing the natural greenhouse. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2. This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon (C) with oxygen (O2) in the air to make CO2. To a lesser extent, the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities have increased the concentrations of other greenhouse gases like methane (CH4), and further increased (CO2).The consequences of changing the natural atmospheric greenhouse are difficult to predict, but certain effects seem likely: - On average, Earth will become warmer. Some regions may welcome warmer temperatures, but others may not. - Warmer conditions will probably lead to more evaporation and precipitation overall, but individual regions will vary, some becoming wetter and others dryer. - A stronger greenhouse effect will probably warm the oceans and partially melt glaciers and other ice, increasing sea level. Ocean water also will expand if it warms, contributing to further sea level rise. - Meanwhile, some crops and other plants may respond favorably to increased atmospheric CO2, growing more vigorously and using water more efficiently. At the same time, higher temperatures and shifting climate patterns may change the areas where crops grow best and affect the makeup of natural plant communities. ||