Global Heating in 3D

A Century of Surface Temperature Anomalies is a powerful visualization of global heating across the world. The visualization uses a WebGL powered 3D globe to show how temperatures have changed over the last one hundred years. The globe uses data from NASA's GISS Surface Temperature Analysis to show global surface temperatures for each decade since 1910.

Surface temperatures around the world are shown on the globe using data spikes. The height and color of these spikes reflect how the surface temperatures for the selected decade relate to the average surface temperature at each location. Blue and purple colored spikes show where temperatures are colder than the average. Red, yellow and orange spikes show where temperatures are warmer than average.

A timeline running down the side of the globe allows you to view the global surface temperatures for any decade between 1910 and 2010. Select a decade from this timeline and you can view how temperatures around the world in that decade differed from the average temperature between the years 1951 and 1980. The animated GIF at the top of this post shows very effectively how global heating is occurring across the whole world.