Graph of the Day: Average Global Sea Surface Temperature, 1880–2009
This graph shows how the average surface temperature of the world’s oceans has changed since 1880. This graph uses the 1971 to 2000 average as a baseline for depicting change. Choosing a different baseline period would not change the shape of the trend. The shaded band shows the likely range of values, based on the number of measurements collected and the precision of the methods used. • Sea surface temperature increased over the 20th century. From 1901 through 2009, temperatures rose at an average rate of 0.12 degrees per decade. Over the last 30 years, sea surface temperatures have risen more quickly at a rate of 0.21 degrees per decade. • Sea surface temperatures have been higher during the past three decades than at any other time since 1880. • The largest increases in sea surface temperature occurred in two key periods: between 1910 and 1940, and from 1970 to the present. Sea surface temperatures appear to have cooled between 1880 and 1910.
