Description:
Over the 20th century there has been a consistent, large-scale warming of both the land and ocean surface, with largest increases in temperature over the midand high latitudes of northern continents. This graphic shows the temperature changes across the planet from the years 1976 to 2000, as long-term deviations from the expected mean. The higher temperature increases over land surface - compared to ocean surface - is consistent with the observed changes in natural climate variations, such as the North Atlantic and Arctic Oscillations, and with the modelled pattern of greenhouse gas warming.