Global temperature anomaly
Earth's average surface temperature is now about +1.41 °C relative to the 1961–1990 average (2026) — roughly 1.5 °C of warming since the 1850s.
Source: HadCRUT5 (Met Office Hadley Centre), via Our World in Data. Data through 2026. Download the data (JSON).
About this indicator
The temperature anomaly is how far global average surface temperature sits above or below a long-term baseline (here, 1961–1990). Anomalies are used instead of absolute temperatures because they capture change more reliably across thousands of stations, ships and buoys.
The record shows a clear warming trend that has accelerated since the 1970s. The last decade contains the warmest years ever measured, and the rise closely tracks the increase in greenhouse gases.
Why it matters: Even one or two degrees of average warming shifts rainfall, intensifies heatwaves and storms, melts ice and raises sea level worldwide.
How to read this chart
The vertical axis is an anomaly in degrees Celsius measured against the 1961–1990 average, not an absolute temperature. A value of +1 °C therefore means the year averaged one degree warmer than that baseline across the globe, not that every place was one degree warmer. Anomalies are used because a station's departure from its own normal travels much further across space than its raw reading does.
Each point is an annual mean, so single years swing with El Niño and La Niña and with large volcanic eruptions. Compare decades rather than consecutive years to see the trend that greenhouse gases are driving. Because this series uses a 1961–1990 baseline, figures quoted elsewhere against a pre-industrial baseline will read a few tenths of a degree higher for the same year.