Imagine watching the weather at various locations since 1850. How often would you observe a year that is warmer than all previously observed years? How often a colder year?
This animation shows the occurrence of record warmest and coldest years over time. As the animation progresses, old records are replaced by new records.
Due to global warming, most of the Earth has experienced their warmest years recently. At the same time, the coldest years often occurred in the far distant past.
Analysis based in annual average temperatures in the Berkeley Earth data set.
