Two days of Staten Island data inadequate for identifying climate trends | Fact check
The claim: Post implies temperature on Staten Island 14 years ago shows humans aren't causing climate change
An April 7 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be a screenshot of a social media post dated April 7, 2010. The screenshot says the temperature on that day was 85.3 degrees.
"14 years ago it was 93 degrees on #StatenIsland ? today it’s a high of 55," reads part of the post's caption. "So why is it 40 degrees cooler today?"
The caption, which includes "#globalwarming" and "#climatechange" hashtags, goes on to suggest that human behavior cannot cause global warming.
The post garnered more than 100 likes in less than a week.
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Our rating: Missing context
The implied claim is wrong. Comparing temperatures at one location on two random days does not demonstrate whether or not global warming is occurring. Scientists determined that human behavior is causing climate change after analyzing many different types of data, including long-term global temperature trends.
Comparing temperatures on two random days is misleading
Sean Birkel, the Maine state climatologist, previously told USA TODAY that analysis of long-term records is necessary to identify climate trends since temperature naturally varies from day to day due to weather.
"Climate is measured from weather conditions – including temperature, precipitation, wind, etc. – that are averaged over many years or decades," Birkel said in a separate interview. "From near-surface temperature observations measured worldwide, scientists have found that global climate is warmer now than it was a century ago."
Fact check: How we know humans are causing warming: A brief history of climate science
New York's average annual statewide temperature has increased by three degrees since 1970, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Scott Stevens, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told USA TODAY that the agency doesn't have a temperature station in Staten Island and that the closest sensor is located at the airport in Newark, New Jersey. According to data from that station, the temperature on April 7, 2010, reached 92 degrees, while the high on the same day in 2024 was 61 degrees.
Multiple lines of evidence show human activity is causing modern global warming
In addition to documenting long-term atmospheric warming trends, researchers have documented ocean warming as well as the consequences of both types of warming, which include:
An increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves
Changes in the migration patterns, geographic range and behaviors of certain animal species
There are a few ways researchers know global warming is caused by excess greenhouse gases emitted by human activity. First, scientists have shown that greenhouse gases, such as CO2, slow the escape of heat into space.
They know the excess CO2 in the atmosphere is from human activity because it matches the amount that has been released by humans (once other natural processes are accounted for) and because modern atmospheric CO2 contains a disproportionate amount of the kind of carbon found in fossil fuels.
More: Can we count on renewable energy? Four ways wind, solar and water can power the US
Researchers have also been able to verify that their understanding of greenhouse gas and Earth physics is accurate by successfully projecting greenhouse gas-driven warming before it occurred.
The Instagram user who shared the post told USA TODAY in an email that it reflects his opinion but offered no evidence supporting the post's implication that Staten Island temperatures should be considered evidence against humans causing global warming.
Our fact-check sources:
Scott Stevens, April 24, Email exchange with USA TODAY
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed April 26, Ocean warming
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed April 26, Causes
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed April 26, Ice sheets
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed April 26, Sea level
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed April 26, Arctic sea ice minimum extent
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed April 26, Evidence
NASA Earth Observatory, accessed April 26, World of Change: Global Temperatures
Environmental Protection Agency, July 2022, Climate Change Indicators: Heat Waves
NOAA, Sept. 6, 2023, Climate Change: Ocean Heat Content
NOAA, Aug. 17, 2022, Climate change: spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere
National Park Service, accessed April 26, How Wildlife are Responding to a Warming Climate
Joint Nature Conservation Committee, accessed April 26, Climate change and migratory species a review of impacts, conservation actions, indicators and ecosystem services
Science, Aug. 19, 2011, Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming
Ecology, Feb. 10, 2021, Unusually large upward shifts in cold-adapted, montane mammals as temperature warms
USA TODAY, Nov. 28, 2022, Fact check: Earth's warming well documented, other planets' climate data limited
USA TODAY, Sept. 21, 2023, Global warming happening despite 1913 Death Valley temperature record | Fact check
USA TODAY, May 16, 2023, April 1895 v. April 2023 temperature comparison does not disprove climate change | Fact check
USA TODAY, May 31, 2022, Fact check: Climate change measured in decades, day to day temperature fluctuation common
The Conversation, July 21, 2020, John Tyndall: the forgotten co-founder of climate science
Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy and the Environment and Water, accessed April 26, Understanding climate change
NOAA, Oct. 12, 2022, How do we know the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is caused by humans?
Carbon Brief, Sept. 28, 2020, Guest post: The oceans are absorbing more carbon than previously thought
Carbon Brief, Oct. 5, 2017, Analysis: How well have climate models projected global warming?
The Harvard Gazette, Jan. 12, 2023, Exxon disputed climate findings for years. Its scientists knew better
Science, Jan. 13, 2023, Assessing ExxonMobil’s global warming projections
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, accessed April 26, Climate Change Effects and Impacts
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Staten Island data doesn't negate climate change | Fact check
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