Witness a Century of Rising Earth Temperatures

Predictions about the future tend to dominate the conversation surrounding global warming. You may have heard that Arctic temperatures are expected to increase by 7° to 13°F over the next century, or that sea levels could rise by as much as 6 feet in that same amount of time. But you don't need to look ahead to see the impact of climate change on our planet—just take glance at the temperature data from the last 100 years.

Co.Design recently spotlighted an animated infographic designed by Antti Lipponen, a senior scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The visualization pulls from NASA data to illustrate the dramatic ascent of average global temperatures between 1900 and 2016.

The circular graph includes one bar for each of the world’s countries. Their colors shift from blue to red, with red representing years far hotter than that nation’s average. As the century progresses, the graphic unfurls into a deep red sunburst of temperature anomalies which acts as both a stunning piece of art and a sobering educational tool.

Lipponen isn't the first scientist to use climate statistics to make a visually captivating statement. Check out Jill Pelto's "Glaciogenic Art," which combines hard data with watercolors of natural landscapes in peril.

[h/t Co.Design]