What is the average global temperature now?


Today's global temperature is typically measured by how it compares to one of these past long-term periods. For example, the average annual temperature for the globe between 1951 and 1980 was around 57.2 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius). In 2015, the hottest year on record, the temperature was about 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) warmer than the 1951–1980 base period.

That calculation comes from NASA and NOAA. Other agencies may come up with a slightly different number because there are several techniques for calculating a global average, depending on how one accounts for temperatures above the data-sparse oceans and other poorly sampled regions.



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