Thread by @NASAEarth

2019 was the second hottest 🌡 year and the last decade was the warmest decade on record. The global average temperature was more than 2°F warmer than during the late 19th century.
go.nasa.gov/2RnffDZ

Scientists at @NASA and @NOAA separately analyze temperature measurements taken at thousands of weather stations, ships and ocean buoys around the globe. Although the records differ slightly due to data processing, they both show a long-term pattern 📈 of increasing temperature.

The global temperature 🌎 is an average, so not every place on Earth had its second-warmest year. For instance, the continental U.S. had a cold October, but Alaska set records for high temperatures. The U.S. was still warmer than average over the year.

This decades-long warming trend is the result of increasing greenhouse gases ♨️ in the atmosphere, released by human activities.

The effects of rising temperatures are felt around the world. Large and intense fires 🔥 burned in Alaska and Siberia and across Australia this year.

The Arctic is warming more than three times as fast as the globe. Water pooled 💧 on the Greenland Ice Sheet this northern summer as ice melted. When ice on land melts into the ocean, it raises sea levels.