Question

each year, scientists from several major institutions - nasas goddard institute for space studies (giss), noaas national climatic data center (ncdc), the japanese meteorological agency, and the met office hadley centre in the united kingdom - tally the temperature data collected at stations around the world and make independent judgments about whether the year was warm or cool compared to previous years. what conclusion can you draw from the data shown in the graph?

• the world has warmed since 1880, and the last decade has been the warmest on record.
• there are far too many anomalies to draw any valid conclusions from the data
• although findings from the research groups vary sharply and thus contain large degrees of uncertainty, it appears certain that global warming stopped in 1998
• global warming is occurring due to human activities which lead to increases in greenhouse gases

Explanation:

• The first option is a valid conclusion based on typical global temperature data trends (assuming the graph shows a warming trend since 1880 and the last decade as warmest).
• The second option is incorrect as multiple major institutions' data (which is likely presented in a graph with some consistency) can be used to draw conclusions.
• The third option is wrong as global warming has not stopped (based on scientific consensus and typical data).
• The fourth option is an inference about the cause (human activities) which is not directly drawn from just the temperature - data graph (the graph likely shows temperature trends, not cause - effect).

Answer:

The world has warmed since 1880, and the last decade has been the warmest on record.