Two days of Staten Island data inadequate for identifying climate trends | Fact check

Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY
Updated ·5 min read

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:

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.

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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.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Staten Island data doesn't negate climate change | Fact check