{
  "chart": {
    "title": "Average monthly surface temperature",
    "subtitle": "The temperature of the air measured 2 meters above the ground, encompassing land, sea, and in-land water surfaces.",
    "citation": "Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (2026)",
    "originalChartUrl": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/average-monthly-surface-temperature?csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=false",
    "selection": [
      "World"
    ]
  },
  "columns": {
    "Average surface temperature": {
      "titleShort": "Monthly average",
      "titleLong": "Monthly average",
      "descriptionShort": "The temperature of the air measured 2 meters above the ground, encompassing land, sea, and in-land water surfaces.",
      "descriptionProcessing": "- Temperature measured in kelvin was converted to degrees Celsius (°C) by subtracting 273.15.\n\n- Initially, the temperature dataset is provided with specific coordinates in terms of longitude and latitude. To tailor this data to each country, we utilize geographical boundaries as defined by the World Bank. The method involves trimming the global temperature dataset to match the exact geographical shape of each country. To correct for potential distortions caused by the Earth's curvature on a flat map, we apply a latitude-based weighting. This step is essential for maintaining accuracy, especially in high-latitude regions where distortion is more pronounced. The result of this process is a latitude-weighted average temperature for each nation.\n\n- It's important to note, however, that due to the resolution constraints of the Copernicus dataset, this methodology might not be as effective for countries with very small landmasses. In these cases, the process may not yield reliable data.\n\n- The derived 2-meter temperature readings for each country are calculated based on administrative borders, encompassing all land surface types within these defined areas. As a result, temperatures over oceans and seas are not included in these averages, focusing the data primarily on terrestrial environments.\n\n- Global temperature averages and anomalies are calculated over all land and ocean surfaces.",
      "shortUnit": "°C",
      "unit": "°C",
      "timespan": "",
      "type": "Numeric",
      "owidVariableId": 1005195,
      "shortName": "temperature_2m",
      "lastUpdated": "2025-01-07",
      "citationShort": "Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data",
      "citationLong": "Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Monthly average” [dataset]. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information, “ERA5 monthly averaged data on single levels from 1940 to present 2” [original data].",
      "fullMetadata": "https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1005195.metadata.json"
    }
  },
  "dateDownloaded": "2026-05-19",
  "activeFilters": {}
}