In this project, I analyzed local and global temperature data and compare the temperature trends where I live to overall global temperature trends. I made observations about the similarities and differences between the world averages and my city’s averages, as well as overall trends. Here are some questions I have answered in the project.
- Is the localcity hotter or cooler on average compared to the global average? Has the difference been consistent over time?
- “How do the changes in your city’s temperatures over time compare to the changes in the global average?”
- What does the overall trend look like? Is the world getting hotter or cooler? Has the trend been consistent over the last few hundred years?
Getting started
You need an installation of Excel, plus the following:
SQL Python (optional)
You’ll need to export the temperature data for the world as well as for the closest big city to where you live. You can find a list of cities and countries in the city_list table. To interact with the database, you'll need to write a SQL query. Write a SQL query to extract the city level data. Export to CSV. Write a SQL query to extract the global data. Export to CSV. Open up the CSV in whatever tool you feel most comfortable using. We suggest using Excel or Google sheets, but you are welcome to use another tool, such as Python or R. Create a line chart that compares your city’s temperatures with the global temperatures. Make sure to plot the moving average rather than the yearly averages in order to smooth out the lines, making trends more observable (the last concept in the previous lesson goes over how to do this in a spreadsheet).
- The Los Angeles, USA average temperature is hotter compared to the global temperature average.
- Celsius and the average temperature was approximately 15 Celsius beginning of the 1800’s and since 1970’s temperature has been increasing over 16 Celsius. The similar scenario can be seen in global temperatures as well where the temperature rise was around 8 Celsius beginning of the 1800’s and from 1970’s it can be detected the temperature rise from 8 Celsius to approximately going upwards to 10 Celsius.
- The trend for the world temperature shows the world is getting hotter, and our observation from the above data confirms this statement. My observation from the above data shows that Global temperatures and Los Angeles temperatures between the years of 1800-2000 show the upward trend specifically the rise in temperature has been exponentially rising since 1970’s. One explanation for this trend perhaps the effect of climate change that is expected to bring hotter temperatures.