Climate skepticism's reach

Climate skepticism, the belief that human-caused climate change is either exaggerated or not real, has a significant following in the United States and other regions. It is often supported by public figures and spread through media and social platforms.

Influence of public figures and media

Prominent individuals and media outlets have played a key role in shaping public opinion on climate issues. Their influence helps climate skepticism gain traction and become part of everyday conversations and political debates.

Visualizing climate change

In 2016, climatologist Ed Hawkins from the University of Reading introduced a new way to show how global temperatures have changed over time. His approach uses a spiral to represent temperature data, making it easier for people to understand long-term trends.

The temperature spiral

Hawkins' spiral is built using data from NASA and covers monthly temperature changes from 1880 to July 2023. It compares these changes to a reference period between 1951 and 1980, highlighting how recent temperatures differ from historical averages.

Credit for the visualization

The design of the spiral is attributed to the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA, which specializes in creating clear and impactful visual representations of complex scientific data.