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File:Global temperature relative to peak Holocene temperature, based on ocean cores (NASA).png

Summary

Description
English: These two graphs show global temperatures for two different time periods (Hansen and Sato, 2011). The top graph shows global surface temperature for the past 5.3 million years as inferred from cores of ocean sediments taken all around the global ocean. The last 800,000 years are expanded in the bottom graph. From the cited public-domain source (Hansen and Sato, 2011): "Assumptions are required to estimate global surface temperature change from deep ocean changes, but we argue and present evidence that the ocean core record yields a better measure of global mean change than that provided by polar ice cores.

Civilization developed during the Holocene, the interglacial period of the past 10,000 years during which global temperature and sea level have been unusually stable. (This image) shows two prior interglacial periods that were warmer than the Holocene: the Eemian (about 130,000 years ago) and the Holsteinian (about 400,000 years ago). In both periods sea level reached heights at least 4-6 meters (13-20 feet) greater than today. In the early Pliocene (around 3 million years ago) global temperature was no more than 1-2°C warmer than today, yet sea level was 15-25 meters (50-80 feet) higher."
Date July 2011
Source fig1.pdf, in: NASA GISS: Science Briefs: Earth's Climate History: Implications for Tomorrow, New York City, New York, USA: NASA GISS, http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/hansen_15/ 
Author James E. Hansen and Makiko Sato

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Public domain This file is in the public domain because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
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