Berkeley Earth

2024 was warmest year on Earth since direct observations began. In Berkeley Earth’s analysis 2024 was 1.62 °C above our 1850-1900 average, making it the second year above 1.5 °C.

Berkeley Earth is dedicated to advancing the field of climate science by providing open-source, high-resolution datasets that enhance the understanding of local climate dynamics and risks. In keeping with this ethos, today we introduce our forthcoming Climate Model Synthesis project, which aims to address critical gaps in existing climate models by applying bias correction and […]

Berkeley Earth is honored to be presenting new research at the American Geophysical Union’s AGU2024 Conference, taking place from December 9th-13th in Washington DC. This year’s conference will mark the first public presentation of Berkeley Earth’s groundbreaking new work making climate model data more accurate and accessible. This new data set comprised of de-biased and […]

2023 was warmest year on Earth since direct observations began. In Berkeley Earth’s analysis 2023 was 1.54 °C above our 1850-1900 average, making it the first year above 1.5 °C. The extreme heat was due to a combination of natural and man-made factors, including global warming and an emerging El Niño event. 17% of the Earth’s surface had a locally warmest year, affecting 2.3 billion people, including significant parts of Asia, South and Central America.

Following the record-smashing summer of 2023, Berkeley Earth’s Zeke Hausfather explores the increasing evidence that global warming has accelerated over the past 15 years in this New York Times Opinion piece.

A recent analysis by The Washington Post uses Berkeley Earth’s time-series data to reveals how some regions are warming at a slower rate relative to the global average.

Berkeley Earth’s new high-resolution data set will represent a quantum leap forward in the ability to represent the long-term impacts of climate change at the local level.

Berkeley Earth welcomes Angel Lance, Founder and CEO of Motive Power, along with Dr. Christa Hasenkopf, Director, Air Quality Programs and the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) at the Energy Policy Institute at University of Chicago (EPIC) to its Board of Directors.

Air pollution is responsible for over 7 million annual deaths globally, and costs an average of 2.2 years of life worldwide. In recognition of the 2022 UN International Day of Clean Air, we share five insights shaping the discussion on one of the greatest global health challenges of our time.

According to the WHO’s 2021 updated guidelines, over 97% of the world breathes air considered to be “unhealthy”. In recognition of the 2022 UN International Day of Clean Air, we’re honored to welcome back Christa Hasenkopf, Director of Air Quality Programs at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) to discuss how the Air Quality Life Index is driving action on air quality.

Extreme heat is the most costly of all extreme weather phenomena, both in terms of its impact on human health and wellbeing, as well as its economic impact. In this episode we talk with Eleni Myrivili, Chief Heat Officer for the City of Athens, and Senior Advisor for the Atlantic Council, about the ways data is being used to build urban resilience in the face of extreme heat events caused by climate change.

In celebration of Earth Day 2022, Data Points is thrilled to welcome climate stripes creator Professor Ed Hawkins for a conversation with Berkeley Earth Lead Scientist Dr. Robert Rohde about the importance of making climate science accessible, the ongoing efforts to “rescue” historic climate data, and why filling the gaps in the historical climate record is essential to crafting future adaptive strategies. 

Characterizing the relationship of extreme weather events to man-made global warming is essential for crafting effective mitigation policies and adaptation strategies.

In the first episode of our 2022 Data Points series, we are honored to welcome Abubakr Salih Babiker, Erick Otenyo, and Marta Baraibar of the IGAD Climate Predications and Applications Center (ICPAC) to discuss the essential nature of climate services and early warning systems in climate change adaptation.

As part of their commitment to supporting urgent climate action, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation has awarded Berkeley Earth a Climate Action Grant in support of its continued contributions to advancing open-source environmental data science.

Using a novel homogenized daily temperature record from Berkeley Earth, the first of its kind, Hausfather’s presentation will outline findings that more maximum daily temperature records have been set in the last decade than previously reported. Click below for a full video summary and link to presentation abstract.

As world leaders gather at the COP26 Climate Change Conference to confront the challenge of slowing global warming, Berkeley Earth, a nonprofit independent source of climate change data since 2013, has produced a new resource, Actionable Insights for Policymakers, offering for every country warming scenarios consistent with the 2021 IPCC Report findings.

Ahead of the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Berkeley Earth climate scientists answer your questions about the climate science of a world below 1.5°C.

The awards, announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, October 5th, recognized the three scientists for their individual work, the combined effect of which, “provided groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex systems,” leading to greater understanding of the complex interactions of physical phenomena involved in global warming and climate change.

This week marked the publication of the much anticipated IPCC Working Group I Report, a global, multi-year effort on the part of more than 200 scientists worldwide to describe the physical science underlying the current state of climate change and global warming.  In this episode of Data Points, Berkeley Earth Lead Scientist Dr. Robert Rohde and […]

On Monday, August 9th, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis report, outlining the contributions of the IPCC’s Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). Click here to download the full report. The Working Group I report outlines and summarizes the findings […]

In April of 2021, Berkeley Earth’s air quality data was featured in National Geographic’s cover story which called air pollution the next global health pandemic, drawing attention to the nearly 4 million annual deaths attributed to poor air quality worldwide. To mark the official launch of Berkeley Earth’s new podcast Data Points, we sit down […]

Studies estimate that the impacts of air pollution account for upwards of 5% of annual global GDP, and yet annual funding to address air quality averages around only $30million annually. As April marks the beginning of Earth Month, Berkeley Earth is focusing on the significant role that air quality data and analysis plays in improving […]

Berkeley Earth is honored to have our independent climate science featured this week by In This Together, a grassroots coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and independents working to put environmental protection and energy innovation policies first by supporting bipartisan policies, leaders, partner organizations and most importantly, the individual voter. In keeping with our core mission of […]

Beginning on June 26th, and lasting for the better part of a week, a massive “heat dome” settled across the Pacific Northwest, creating some of the most extreme heat conditions ever observed in North America. With record-setting temperatures upwards of 40 degrees Celsius above average, this heatwave generated significant global media coverage. Below, Berkeley Earth […]

Following April’s National Geographic cover story featuring Berkley Earth’s open-source air quality data, we sit down with Berkeley Earth’s climate scientists Dr. Robert Rohde and Dr. Zeke Hausfather to discuss global air quality trends.

Berkeley Earth’s open-source air quality data has been featured in National Geographic’s April Issue, highlighting the significance of the health crises created by air pollution and poor air quality. As suppliers of comprehensive air quality data, Berkeley Earth provides not only real-time air quality readings, but also provides historic time-series data at the city and […]

Studies estimate that the impacts of air pollution account for upwards of 5% of annual global GDP, and yet annual funding to address air quality averages around only $30million annually. As April marks the beginning of Earth Month, Berkeley Earth is focusing on the significant role that air quality data and analysis plays in improving […]

“In many ways 2020 was the year in which both climate change and the accelerating energy transition became impossible to ignore” Dr. Zeke Hausfather, Written Testimony for Hearing on The Science Behind the Impacts of the Climate Crisis On Friday, March 12th, Berkeley Earth Research Scientist Dr. Zeke Hausfather was invited to serve as an […]

We sit down with social entrepreneur, environmental policy innovator, Berkeley Earth Board Director, and In This Together Co-Founder Bill Shireman to discuss the important role of independent climate science in taking a data-driven approach to climate solutions.

Berkeley Earth released our annual Global Temperature Report for 2020, including findings that 2020 was the second warmest year on record. Thanks to our partners in the media, the independent research, data, and findings we presented in this report have reached an audience of nearly 400 million worldwide. One highlight of our impact: Berkeley Earth’s […]

Berkeley Earth Global Temperature Update: 2020 Was Second Warmest Year Since 1850 Berkeley, Calif. — Berkeley Earth today released its Global Temperature Report for 2020, concluding that the year was nominally the second warmest on Earth since 1850 based on land and ocean data. Globally, 2020 was slightly cooler than and nearly tied with 2016. […]

Marking Berkeley Earth’s tenth year of providing independent, open-source analysis of global average temperatures, the 2022 Annual Temperature Report finds that 2022 was nominally the fifth warmest on Earth since 1850. The last eight years have been the eight warmest years on record.

BERKELEY, CA — Berkeley Earth today released its annual report on global mean temperature, concluding that while 2021 was significantly colder than 2020, it was nominally the sixth warmest year on Earth since 1850, 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2F) above the 1850 to 1900 average. Given the uncertainties associated with temperature measurements, the years 2015, 2018, […]

While our fully open-source surface temperature datasets have been publicly available for some time, this paper represents the first time our complete detailed methodology has been formally published. The paper specifically includes discussion of Berkeley Earth’s treatment of air temperature in the Arctic region, and provides visualization of the global warming trends suggested by Berkeley Earth’s dataset vs. other global temperature records.

As an eventful year of climate news comes to a close, Berkeley Earth climate scientists Dr. Robert Rohde and Dr. Zeke Hausfather talk with Social Media Manager Kari Hulac about air surface temperature records and the significant warming event in the Arctic region, as well as preview some exciting new research about climate change mitigation efforts.

Congratulations are in order for Berkeley Earth’s sister organization Deep Isolation, who announced today the closing of a $20m Series A funding round, led by nuclear industry leaders NAC International. Founded by Berkeley Earth Co-Founder and President Elizabeth Muller, Deep Isolation is developing a patented process to safely dispose of nuclear waste, a major issue […]

In this midst of a record-setting fire season, Berkeley Earth’s climate scientists Robert Rhode and Zeke Hausfather talk with Social Media Manager Kari Hulac to discuss climate change and the fires burning across the West.

An earlier version of this article originally appeared on the Asthma Allergies Children website. By Liz Muller As I write this white ash is visible in the polluted San Francisco Bay Area air, wafting down from a smoky orange sky and into our lungs, a dangerous byproduct of wildfires burning more than 3 million acres […]

Berkeley Earth, a California-based non-profit research organization, has been preparing independent analyses of global mean temperature changes since 2013. The following is our report on global mean temperature during 2019. We conclude that 2019 was the second warmest year on Earth since 1850. The global mean temperature in 2019 was colder than 2016, but warmer […]

Horrific Air Pollution in Europe Reaches 7 cigarettes per day equivalent, a pack a day in India and China It’s winter, and that’s the worst air pollution period for Europe and China. The levels over much of the continent are in the unhealthy range. In the figure we show a map of the pollution of […]

2016 was the warmest year since humans began keeping records, by a wide margin. Global average temperatures were extremely hot in the first few months of the year, pushed up by a large El Nino event. Global surface temperatures dropped in the second half of 2016, yet still show a continuation of global warming. The […]

by Zeke Hausfather Air pollution in China is a critical global health problem, responsible for somewhere between 700,000 and 2.2 million premature deaths annually. The largest single contributor to air pollution-related mortality is particulate matter below 2.5 microns in size, or PM2.5. Exposure to PM2.5 has been found to increase the risk of heart attacks, […]

by: Zeke Hausfather, Berkeley Earth zeke@berkeleyearth.org The relationship between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and future warming is complex, depending on the atmospheric lifetime of gases, their radiative forcing, and the thermal inertia of the Earth, particularly our oceans. Many non-CO2 GHGs have shorter atmospheric lifetimes, and the global warming-equivalent values commonly used for analysis of emission […]

On May 1, 2016, a fire began southwest of Fort McMurray,  Canada. It swept through the community destroying over 2000 structures. You can read about the latest developments here. Since 2014 Berkeley Earth has been expanding its real time database of air pollution. Our original focus was on China, but we have continued to add other regions of […]

by Richard A. Muller and Elizabeth A. Muller For many people, comparing air pollution to cigarette smoking is more vivid and meaningful than is citing the numbers of yearly deaths. When we published our scientific paper on air pollution in China in August 20151, we were surprised by the attention we got for a quick […]

By Zeke Hausfather In recent weeks we’ve seen a political controversy over NOAA’s adjustments to temperature records, with accusations from some in congress that records are being changed to eliminate a recent slowdown in warming and to lend support to Obama administration climate policies. This makes it sound like the NOAA record is something of […]

Earlier this month the Shenyang EPA reported the worse levels of air pollution since record keeping began: Estimates varied between 1000 and 1400 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5— the fine particulate matter that has deadly health consequences. The US embassy in Shenyang reported “off the chart” recordings. In our recent study in PLOS on […]

Over the past few days we have been publishing the first major update of our data since early 2015. The data can be found here on our data page. Given the time of year and the wide ranging discussion about whether or not 2014 was a record year, it seemed a good time to asses […]

As the AP  reports  Lelieveld has published a paper in Nature  on the mortality associated with outdoor air pollution that  confirms what BerkeleyEarth found in its study of air pollution in China. By their estimate   ~1.357M deaths in China are caused by air pollution. By our estimate there are ~1.6 Million deaths per year in China […]

In our study of air pollution in China, we stumbled upon two extraordinary days.  The first, which we initially thought was a fluke, turned out to be a single day when air pollution across China was more extensive than we had seen in a years worth of data.  It was a mystery until  lead scientist, […]

Can natural gas help us reduce climate change by acting as a bridge fuel away from coal? New research from Berkeley suggests that it can, even if it modestly delays the date at which we switch to renewables. The U.S. is in the midst of a natural gas boom. The combination of horizontal drilling and […]

Mountains of ink have been spilled in recent years on whether or not global warming has paused or slowed down. We’ve discussed it extensively in the past, and numerous studies have examined whether the apparent pause might have been caused by additional ocean heat uptake, small volcanoes, a weak solar cycle, poor arctic coverage in existing datasets, and\or a […]

There has been much discussion of temperature adjustment of late in both climate blogs and in the media, but not much background on what specific adjustments are being made, why they are being made, and what effects they have. Adjustments have a big effect on temperature trends in the U.S., and a modest effect on […]