Earth's current average global temperature (i.e. including hot deserts and cold polar caps) is reported be somewhere between 14°C and 16°C (depending on sources and methods).
This temperature varies on a long-term basis due to climate change.
But does it also vary (substantially) on a daily basis ?
I.e. are there hotter and colder days (worldwide) ?
Or is it exactly the opposite, namely a zero-sum game: A hotter-than-average day in – say – Australia inevitably goes along with a colder-than-usual day somewhere else on the planet to make up for the difference, so that the global temperature stays the same from one day to the next (because energy is not created but only transferred from one region to another) ?
As an example, below are the relative temperatures (i.e. colder/hotter than expected/average) for 3 Feb 2014. Would the hotter and colder temperature regions balance out (compensate one another), so that the global temperature on 3 feb 2014 is the same as on 2 feb 2014 and 4 feb 2014 ?
source: https://robertscribbler.com/2014/02/03/arctic-heat-in-winter-february-2-temperature-anomaly-hits-13-f-for-entire-arctic
(Please note: The image doesn't exactly illustrate my question, because it doesn't depict the air temperature difference between 3 Feb 2014 and the previous day, but between 3 Feb 2014 and the average for [3 Feb, I assume] 1979-2000. So due to global warming, 3 Feb 2014 was obviously warmer than 3 Feb in previous decades – by 0.45°C to be precise, as the sum of northern hemisphere + southern hemisphere = -0.01°C + 0.45°C = +0.45 °C
. But my question is not about global warming or long term trends, but daily variations. I just couldn't find a similar heat map depicting temperature differences between one day and the next, so I just took this image for illustration purposes, although it doesn't perfectly relate to the question asked.).
As Earth surface temperatures don't necessarily correspond to the air temperature (see below), please distinguish both cases in your answer, i.e.:
- Can global average Earth surface temperature vary from one day to the next ?
- Can global average air temperature vary from one day to the next ?
Andreas Schmittner, Oregon State University: "It is not the average temperature of Earth that is reported but the average air temperature near the surface (2 m) of the Earth."
source: researchgate.net/post/It_it_misleading_to_report_the_average_temperature_of_the_Earth
I would appreciate if your answer included both a source for your claim AND an explanation (i.e. WHY the global temperature can or cannot vary on a daily basis).
The best answer would include a diagram or table of global average air and Earth surface temperatures for any given month, since this couldn't be argued with.
Example:
+-----------+--------------------------------+----------------------+ | | avg. global Earth surface temp | avg. global air temp | +-----------+--------------------------------+----------------------+ | 01 Feb 14 | 15.1 °C | 15.2 °C | | 02 Feb 14 | 15.1 °C | 15.3 °C | | 03 Feb 14 | 15.1 °C | 15.7 °C | | 04 Feb 14 | 15.1 °C | 15.2 °C | | 05 Feb 14 | 15.1 °C | 15.1 °C | | ... | ... | ... | +-----------+--------------------------------+----------------------+
tags: thermodynamics