Earth’s average surface temperature in 2022 tied with 2015 as the fifth warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA.
“Our warming climate is already making a mark: Forest fires are intensifying; hurricanes are getting stronger; droughts are wreaking havoc and sea levels are rising.
NASA also identified some super-emitters of methane – another powerful greenhouse gas – using the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation instrument that launched to the International Space Station last year.
Climate change has intensified rainfall and tropical storms, deepened the severity of droughts, and increased the impact of storm surges.
NASA scientists analyze these measurements to account for uncertainties in the data and to maintain consistent methods for calculating global average surface temperature differences for every year.
NASA uses the period from 1951-1980 as a baseline to understand how global temperatures change over time.
NASA scientists estimate that La Niña’s cooling influence may have lowered global temperatures slightly from what the average would have been under more typical ocean conditions.
A separate, independent analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and methodology.