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Global Average Temperature at Earth’s Surface, 1950–99 and Atmospheric Concentrations of Carbon Dioxide, 1960–1998   
Year 
Temperature
(degrees Celsius)
Carbon Dioxide
(parts per million)  
1760

(at the start
of the Industrial Revolution)

 276.72
1950 13.84 311.26
1951 13.97 311.74
1952 14.03 312.22
1953 14.11 312.70
1954 13.91 313.22
1955 13.91 313.73
1956 13.87 314.25
1957 14.07 314.77
1958 14.07 315.28
1959 14.03 315.83
1960 13.96 316.75
1961 14.10 317.49
1962 14.11 318.30
1963 14.10 318.83
1964 13.78 318.50
1965 13.89 319.87
1966 13.96 321.21
1967 14.00 322.02
1968 13.95 322.89
1969 14.03 324.46
1970 14.02 325.52
1971 13.93 326.16
1972 14.01 327.29
1973 14.11 329.51
1974 13.92 330.08
1975 13.94 330.99
1976 13.81 331.98
1977 14.11 333.73
1978 14.04 335.34
1979 14.08 336.68
1980 14.18 338.52
1981 14.30 339.76
1982 14.09 340.96
1983 14.28 342.61
1984 14.13 344.25
1985 14.10 345.73
1986 14.16 346.97
1987 14.29 348.75
1988 14.32 351.31
1989 14.24 352.75
1990 14.41 354.04
1991 14.37 355.48
1992 14.12 356.29
1993 14.12 356.99
1994 14.22 358.88
1995 14.38 360.91
1996 14.30 362.69
1997 14.41 363.82
1998 14.58 366.70
1999 14.35  

Compiled by Worldwatch Institute from: Surface Air Temperature Analyses, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, 11 January 2000; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, August 1998 and January 1999.   

 

 

Selected Examples of Ice Melt Around the World
Name Location Measured Loss
Arctic Sea Ice Arctic Ocean Has shrunk by 6 percent since 1978, with a 14 percent loss of thicker, year-round ice. Has thinned by 40 percent in less than 30 years.
Greenland Ice Sheet Greenland Has thinned by more than a meter a year on its southern and eastern edges since 1993.
Columbia Glacier Alaska, United States Has retreated nearly 13 kilometers since 1982. In 1999, retreat rate increased from 25 meters per day to 35 meters per day.
Glacier National Park Rocky Mtns., United States Since 1850, the number of glaciers has dropped from 150 to fewer than 50. Remaining glaciers could disappear completely in 30 years.
Antarctic Sea Ice Southern Ocean Ice to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula decreased by some 20 percent between 1973 and 1993, and continues to decline.
Pine Island Glacier West Antarctica Grounding line (where glacier hits ocean and floats) retreated 1.2 kilometers a year between 1992 and 1996. Ice thinned at a rate of 3.5 meters per year.
Larsen B Ice Shelf Antarctic Peninsula Calved a 300 km2 iceberg in early 1998. Lost an additional 1,714 km2 during the 1998–1999 season, and 300 km2 so far during the 1999–2000 season.
Tasman Glacier New Zealand Terminus has retreated 3 kilometers since 1971, and main front has retreated 1.5 kilometers since 1982. Has thinned by up to 200 meters on average since the 1971–82 period. Icebergs began to break off in 1991, accelerating the collapse.
Meren, Carstenz, and Northwall Firn Glaciers Irian Jaya, Indonesia Rate of retreat increased to 45 meters a year in 1995, up from only 30 meters a year in 1936. Glacial area shrank by some 84 percent between 1936 and 1995. Meren Glacier is now close to disappearing altogether.
Dokriani Bamak Glacier Himalayas, India Retreated by 20 meters in 1998, compared with an average retreat of 16.5 meters over the previous 5 years.
Duosuogang Peak Ulan Ula Mtns., China Glaciers have shrunk by some 60 percent since the early 1970s.
Tien Shan Mountains Central Asia Twenty-two percent of glacial ice volume has disappeared in the past 40 years.
Caucasus Mountains Russia Glacial volume has declined by 50 percent in the past century.
Alps Western Europe Glacial area has shrunk by 35 to 40 percent and volume has declined by more than 50 percent since 1850. Glaciers could be reduced to only a small fraction of their present mass within decades.
Mt. Kenya Kenya Largest glacier has lost 92 percent of its mass since the late 1800s.
Speka Glacier Uganda Retreated by more than 150 meters between 1977 and 1990, compared with only 35–45 meters between 1958 and 1977.
Upsala Glacier Argentina Has retreated 60 meters a year on average over the last 60 years, and rate is accelerating.
Quelccaya Glacier Andes, Peru Rate of retreat increased to 30 meters a year in the 1990s, up from only 3 meters a year between the 1970s and 1990.


Source: Lisa Mastny, “Melting of Earth’s Ice Cover Reaches New High,” Worldwatch News Brief, (Washington, DC; Worldwatch Institute, 6 March 2000).

 

 

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