There is no doubt that one of the greatest challenges in communicating the science of climate change to the public is the difficulty in creating compelling visualizations out of an extraordinary amount of dry data.

 

NASA satellites have been tracking such data for decades — everything from ocean and air temperatures and melting sea ice to forest fires and solar flares. But until now this data has not been offered in a visually compelling form that describes what the scientists are talking about.

 

Recognizing the need to get this amazing data out to the public, NASA hired a team of animators to create videos that composite real images of the Earth as seen from space with time-lapse, color-coded charts based on reams of scientific data. These videos are available on NASA's recently launched A Warming World website. 

 

Many of the videos like the "Temperature Puzzle" video are available in full-screen high definition. You can search all of their animations by keyword — hours and hours of nerd entertainment! Check out a "Tour of the Cryosphere".