Temperature Anomalies Warming Faster than Earth's Average

It's no secret that Earth's average global temperature is rising, with 2014 slated to be the hottest year on record, but new research shows that temperature anomalies - readings well above or below the mean - are warming even faster than the overall average.

"Average temperatures don't tell us everything we need to know about climate change," lead study author Scott M. Robeson, of Indiana University, Bloomington, said in a statement. "Arguably, these cold extremes and warm extremes are the most important factors for human society."

By analyzing temperature records from 1881 to 2013, Robeson and his colleagues found that while cold anomalies increased more so than warm anomalies, narrowing Earth's temperature range, in the past 30 years this pattern has reversed, with warm anomalies increasing at a faster rate.

"Earth's temperature was becoming more homogenous with time," Robeson explained, "but now it's not."

Overall, temperatures at these cold and warm extremes increased more than the overall average Earth temperature. This could potentially impact factors like water supplies, agricultural productivity and human health.

And unfortunately for the Northern Hemisphere (which has more land mass than the Southern Hemisphere), it can expect more volatile temperatures - like heatwaves in Europe or extreme winter weather in North America, for example.