#2500: Global Temperature Over My Lifetime

[Graph of temperature over time, titled:]

"Global average temperature

Over my lifetime

[smaller text]

(60-month running June average, NOAA NCEI time series)"

[The X axis is in years, going from 1980 to a little after 2020. Each decade is marked.]

[The Y axis is in °C, with the "20th century average" at the bottom, up to +1°C (from the average), labelled every 0.2°C.]

[Certain points and periods on the graph are marked and contain descriptions of events and actions that occurred in Randall's life.]

Exxon International report predicts that fossil fuel use will raise global temperatures to about 1°C above their normal levels within 40 years

I’m born in Easton, PA

I learn to ride a bike

My elementary school celebrates Earth Day and I learn about the greenhouse effect

I get very into Star Wars and Animorphs

I stand around awkwardly at my first middle school dance

I get accepted into college

I somehow graduate despite spending most of my time playing Mario Kart

I see An Inconvenient Truth in the theater and feel anxious

I get married

I read headlines about a global warning “pause” and hope that maybe things aren’t so bad

I read more about climate science and get steadily more alarmed

I read the 1982 Exxon report

Global 60-month average reaches +0.94°C, Easton, PA is 2°C hotter than normal for the fifth year in a row

(no description)

[Large X within a circle] 1982 Exxon Prediction