What is Global Warming?

Our earth's average temperature stays pretty much the same from year to year. Sometimes it gets very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer where you live.

And some years may be a little hotter than normal where YOU live but it may be a little cooler where other people live! So, when you look at the average temperature everywhere on the earth for a whole year, there is very little change. The current average global temperature is about 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius).

If there is a rise in this average temperature, then we have global warming. In the last 100 years, the average temperature rose less than 1 degree. However, in 1995, which some say was the hottest year we have ever had, the average temperature went up half of a degree.

Back to Global Beginners.