What website can I find historical (1960s to present) data on temperature averages, global warming?

Question

I need to compare mean temperatures for a statistics project (topic is global warming). I need to compare a mean temperature for a decade about 40 years ago (lets say 1966-1976) to a present decade (1996-2006). Monthly averages would be helpful also, but I mainly need a ten-year average for any specific city to determine whether "global warming" has effected that area. Then I must use the data I find and conduct proper hypothesis tests (which i will figure out later!) but now I just need a temperature site?

Answer 1

Here is a site from NASA showing temps numerically.

Answer 2

I'm not aware that there's any site which will easily enable you to do this. There are sites that list the average monthly and annual temperatures but comparing one period to the next involves a lot of calculations.

I'm currently working on what we hope will be the most comprehensive, accurate and user friendly global temperature record there is, a simplified version in tabulated and graphical format will be available online in a few weeks.

The interactive version (which won't be online because it's far too big) allows any range or series of ranges to be entered and compared. If you'd like to add more details or email the details to me I can tell you what the average global temperatures were.

For the ranges you mentioned....

Average global temp derived from a range of datasets for 1966 to 1976 (both years included) 13.921°C, for 1996 to 2006 14.482°C.

Sticking with the two main temperature records then the figures from GISTemp are 13.973°C and 14.573°C respectively and from HADCrut3 they're 13.879°C and 14.391°C.

A simplified version of both GISTemp and HADCrut3 are available online http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/tabledata/GLB.Ts.txt and http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadcrut3/diagnostics/global/nh+sh/monthly

There are more datasets online but your computer will need to be CDF enabled to use them. CDF is Common Data Format, it's not something that can just be downloaded and installed unless you're something of a computer expert. Here's the starting point for CDF - http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/

Answer 3

I'm not really sure, but I would recommend looking for MORE THAN ONE of these sites, and compare them. I think you'll find a number of differences, depending on whom is FUNDING the "scientists."

Answer 4

Try this one, which gives liunks to charts and info about global temperatures:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html#Q3