Temperature anomalies in the 1940s compared to 2010
Every country in the world was warmer in the 2010s than in the 1940s — except Ireland.
This chart shows average temperatures in the 1940s and 2010s compared to the average from 1991–2020. These differences — called temperature anomalies — help us see how temperatures have changed. We source this data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA5 project. Globally, the 1940s were 0.66°C cooler than the 1991–2020 average, while the 2010s were 0.2°C warmer.
This means that over about 70 years, the global average temperature increased by approximately 0.86°C. Compared to pre-industrial times, the current global average temperature is estimated to have risen by approximately 1.3°C.
Ireland is the only country where temperatures in the 1940s were similar to the 2010s. Every other country has seen temperatures increase over this period, with some experiencing more than several degrees of warming. This illustrates how local climate variations can differ from global trends. The effects can vary from place to place, but global warming remains a broad phenomenon.