Using Tableau:
·
Chart Selection and Design
o
The data source used was the ExcelFormattedGISTEMPData2CSV.csv file
from the GISTEMP
site,
specifically the data from “Table Data: Global and Hemispheric Monthly Means
and Zonal Annual Means”.
o
The Y-axis represents the annual mean temperatures,
a quantitative and continuous dependent variable.
o
The X-axis represents the time period (years), a
quantitative and continuous independent variable.
o
This makes it appropriate to plot the data using
a line chart. A shaded area below the charts was added to enhance chart.
o
The year and mean temperature for each data
point is dynamically displayed when hovering over the data point.
o
With the use of a drop-down menu, the chart
makes it possible to visualize global, hemispheric and monthly mean
temperatures for each year
·
Observation
o
Despite year-to-year fluctuations, global
surface temperature is rising. The last 37 years show a consistent increase in
mean temperatures.
o
The mean temperatures in the northern hemisphere
show a higher trend increase than the mean temperatures in the southern
hemisphere.
References
- GISTEMP Team, 2016: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP). NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Dataset accessed 20YY-MM-DD at http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/.
- Hansen, J., R. Ruedy, M. Sato, and K. Lo, 2010: Global surface temperature change, Rev. Geophys., 48, RG4004, doi:10.1029/2010RG000345.
