Mean vs Distribution

Produced by Thomas J. Pfaff

sustainabilitymath.org

Figure 1 A map of temperature distribution for February 2015 compared to the averages from 1951-1980. Overall, global
average temperature was 0.86 degrees Celsius warmer. This map and other can be created at
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/maps/

Exercise: In February 2015, Washington DC had a cold month and many people used this as evidence
that global warming does not exist. In particular, on February 26, 2015, Senator Inhofe brought a
snowball to the senate floor to "disprove" global warming1. Use the map in Figure 1 to explain why
senator Inhofe did not disprove global working.

1
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/obama-on-inhofe-snowball-stunt-thats-disturbing/
452580/