Global Climate at a Glance

Climate Monitoring Branch


The Global Climate at a Glance (GCAG) web application can be used to retrieve monthly and annual global temperature anomaly maps that date back to 1880. Users can also create timeseries for locations around the globe by selecting a point on the map. The interactive interface allows users to adjust the vertical and horizontal axes of the timeseries plots to view selected range of months or years of data or to view the entire period of record.

The maps are created using land surface temperature anomalies from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) data and sea surface temperature anomalies from the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS). These two datasets are blended into a single product to produce the combined global land and ocean temperature anomalies. The temperature anomalies are calculated with respect to the 1971-2000 base period and are averaged over 5 degree by 5 degree grid boxes. These gridded temperature anomalies are mapped by GCAG. Additional information on the dataset can be found here: Global Temperature Anomalies FAQ Page.

The data files used by the GCAG web application can be found here


Launch GCAG Web Application

*Adobe Flash Player is needed to launch GCAG. Get the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.


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