It’s been unseasonably warm this past week, with temperatures about ten degrees higher than average. But that's not really as noteworthy, as say, India recording its hottest day ever, at 123.8º Fahrenheit on May 20th. Globally, 2016 is on track to be the hottest year on record, surpassing the current record-holder, 2015. In fact, since 2014, every successive year has been the “hottest year on record.” There is a pattern as you may see. Jay Alder of the U.S. Geological Survey created an animated spiral, which is an extension of a spiral created earlier this month by climate scientist Ed Hawkins. Hawkins’ original spiral depicted the observed monthly global average temperatures (as presented in the HadCRUT 4 dataset) relative to the mean temperature for 1850-1900. The spiral makes the overall trend of global warming—and particularly the increased pace of warming since 1980—immediately obvious. Inspired by Hawkins’ novel approach, Alder has expanded the spiral to included predicted temperatures through 2100. It's the opposite of chilling. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! http://www.atlasobscura.com/article...climate-change-isnt-a-graphits-a-death-spiral
