NASA's Climate Change Gif Goes Viral on Reddit

NASA's climate change gif has recently gone viral on Reddit, and has earned its place among the most popular science visualizations on the web. The NASA visual was created by Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist who works for the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. The visualization has already been released on previous occasions, including before the Summer Olympics in Rio. Reddit user r/thepositivepandemic first posted the gif, and the community was impressed.

NASA's climate change gif

If you have ever wondered what climate change looks like, NASA has created an animation that shows the evolution of earth's temperature. This NASA climate change GIF shows the earth's temperatures from 1880 to 2021. It was created by Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the University of Reading. Hawkins was inspired by the ice ages and their connection to climate change.

This NASA climate change GIF, which is based on a video shared on Reddit on March 15, 2022, has racked up over 48,000 upvotes. It shows the warming of global temperatures attributed to human activities. The ice-free Antarctic region is also at risk due to climate change. And while the United States has seen a decrease in snowfall, the entire world is experiencing greater heat waves.

The ice-free Antarctica region has cooled by more than one degree since the 1950s. This trend has been accelerated and is crossing the yellow line of one degree of warming. The Northern Hemisphere experienced its hottest month ever in July 2021. And the last nine years have been among the 10 hottest years on record. Even the global pandemic seems to have little effect on the trajectory of climate change.

NASA's HadCRUT4 global temperature dataset

HadCRUT4 is a gridded global temperature dataset that provides monthly average surface temperature anomalies for each month of the last 165 years. This dataset is a collaborative product of the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. Unlike HadCRUT2, which only covers recent years, HadCRUT4 provides monthly average surface temperature anomalies for every month since 1850.

The latest data on global temperature anomalies have been released. They show that temperatures have risen 1.1 degrees Celsius since the 19th century, from -0.7 to +0.4 C. Since the late 1960s, the warming rate has been roughly linear, averaging about 0.1 degree Celsius per decade. In all three global temperature datasets, 2015 and 2016 broke previous records. This is because NASA has been making adjustments to previous versions of the data since the data collection began.

This data are irregularly distributed and need to be spatially shifted to obtain accurate global temperature values. To achieve this, the earth is divided into coarse grid cells where meteorological stations are placed. Then, using statistical methods, the averaged values of temperature measurements from meteorological stations are calculated for each grid cell. After the averaged values are calculated, more complex techniques are used to interpolate the missing data into the complete surface.

While the data from the HadCRUT4 global temperature dataset are often used to compare the effects of greenhouse gases on climate, some are skeptical about their accuracy. Many scientists have argued that HadCRUT4's methodology is outdated, but it is the best available data that meets the current climate science and research needs. It is important to use accurate and up-to-date data from weather stations as a basis for climate models.

El Nino and Hawkins' effects on climate change

The warming trend has been linked to climate changes. Recent El Nino events have been attributed to the warming trend. El Nino events are largely linked to ocean temperatures. Warmer ocean waters cause higher sea surface temperatures, which in turn increases global average temperatures. While the warming trend is currently continuing, scientists do not know if it will affect El Nino events in the future. If it does, the effects on climate change will be felt in the future.

A recent study suggests that the occurrence of super El Nino events could double in the coming century due to climate change. A total of 20 climate models examined the effects of El Nino on future Earth's climate. According to the study, super El Nino events may happen every 10 years instead of every 20 years. Hawkins believes that the warming trend is not yet over, but it is within our grasp to avoid dangerous consequences.

When El Nino happens, the trade winds weaken and warm water is pushed across the eastern and western Pacific. This causes rain and storms. During the winter months, this warm water will continue to circulate over the western Pacific. It will eventually reach the Atlantic and influence the world's weather. El Nino affects both high and low pressure systems and winds and precipitation patterns. The warmer waters release excess energy into the atmosphere, causing global temperatures to rise.

A composite analysis of the SATs over the MSA region has shown that the anthropogenic warming and El Nino events are strongly linked. SAT anomalies over the MSA are highly correlated with the Nino-3.4 sea-surface temperature index, which peaks in the December-January-February season. Positive anomalies in the Nino-3.4 index are associated with El Nino events.

Effects of climate change on glaciers

Global warming and the sustained use of hydrocarbons are likely to increase near-surface temperatures, with the largest impacts expected in high latitudes and mountainous regions. In addition to increasing temperatures, global warming and glacier retreat will also alter precipitation patterns. The thinning of mountain glaciers has already been observed, and further retreat of these glaciers will alter the proportional contribution of meltwater, snow, and groundwater to proglacial mountain-river systems.

In the United States, glaciers in the Arctic, in Canada, and in Iceland are among the most severely affected by climate change. Many communities depend on these glaciers for their water supplies. If glaciers disappear, there could be severe food and water shortages. However, the decline of glaciers can also increase the amount of available water in nearby rivers. Ultimately, glaciers' melting and retreat could pose a significant threat to human health.

Globally, a large percentage of the world's glaciers are already melting at an alarming rate. The main cause of this rapid melt is human activity, including the emission of greenhouse gases. Glaciers are important because their evolution helps regulate the level of seawater. And melting glaciers have a direct effect on global sea levels. The melting of glaciers will cause sea levels to rise by more than five feet by the end of the century, and we must act now to stem this global catastrophe.

Besides changing glacier runoff and increasing temperatures, glacier melt also increases river discharge and increases the number of new channels. Likewise, as glacier margins recede, runoff from smaller glaciers will decrease steadily and may eventually cease altogether. These changes, of course, have significant implications for the water quality and quantity of lakes, rivers, and oceans. It is therefore essential to monitor the effects of climate change on glaciers.

Animated GIFs' ability to convey a complex message

One of the most interesting aspects of animated GIFs is their interpretive flexibility. They are not universally accessible, but their inherent malleability makes them a perfect medium for communicating complex ideas. The entanglement of multiple meanings, positionality, and contexts is particularly useful in conveying messages on climate change, which are often difficult to discuss in writing. The resulting complexity of climate change animated GIFs makes them a powerful tool for a number of environmental and social issues.

Another advantage of animated GIFs is their resistance to digital censorship. GIFs are often a form of social steganography, or "hiding in plain sight communication." They can hide in plain sight and communicate a complex message through references and in-jokes that only the recipient of a message will understand. Climate change animated GIFs are an excellent example of this resistance.

Another benefit of using animated GIFs for climate change messaging is their ease of use and versatility. Users can respond quickly to an animated GIF, which allows them to communicate a complex message without requiring complex language or visuals. GIFs are also more flexible than static images, as they can be customized, unlike static images. GIFs are also more community-driven than other digital media, with no repositories or platforms controlling the format. Those who create GIFs can be as creative as they like, making them an effective means of communicating a complex message.

Climate change animated GIFs' use of layers in storytelling is another powerful way to engage users. The Spicer/Homer Simpson remix, for instance, has multiple layers of meaning, based on the viewers' cultural knowledge of Homer Simpson, the political climate of the day, and the political climate of 2017. Each user will have different levels of engagement, which makes them more powerful in communicating complex messages.

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