Earth’s average temperature, 1880–2013.This graph shows global average temperatures from 1880 to 2013, given as anomalies above or below the 1951–1980 average, defined as 0°C. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, Earth’s average temperature has been 0.6°C (1.08°F) above the 1951–1980 average. The last below-average year was 1976. After that, all years have seen an above-average global temperature. Each passing decade since 1976 has been warmer than the preceding decade. The year 2012 was the warmest year for the United States, and the tenth warmest year for the planet as a whole, since 1880. The year 2014 was the warmest ever recorded.
