This page describes some of the 50 Essential Climate Variables identified by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) for worldwide monitoring.
Maps & Data
Some natural processes record the passage of time: for instance, layers of sediments accumulate over many years, and some of them preserve information about weather conditions during the time they were deposited. Throughout Earth's history, global and regional climate has changed on very long time scales, and many of the past conditions can be discovered by studying natural records.
How much rain fell over the weekend? What was the temperature over the last few weeks? Tables of daily weather observations can answer these common questions.
Based on daily observations from 1991-2020, colors on the map show long-term average precipitation totals in 5x5 km grid cells for the month displayed. The darker the color, the higher the total…
Colors show what percent of its average precipitation a location received in a specific month. White and very light areas had monthly precipitation totals close to the long-term average. Brown areas…
Colors show where total precipitation has an increased chance of being higher or lower than usual during the next month. The darker the shading, the greater the chance for the indicated condition…
Colors show where and by how much monthly precipitation totals differed from average precipitation for the same month from 1991-2020. Green areas were wetter than the 30-year average for the month…
Colors show monthly precipitation totals across the contiguous United States. The darker the color, the higher the total precipitation.
Colors show where total precipitation has an increased chance of being higher or lower than usual during the next three months. The darker the shading, the greater the chance for the indicated…
Colors show projected average daily maximum temperature for each month from the 2020s through the 2090s, based on a stabilized-emissions future.In this case, the stabilized-emissions future…