Here's how fast global warming is happening - in one terrifying 30 second video

The Earth is getting hotter, faster than ever before, according to analysis by Nasa.

Surface temperatures for Earth in 2015 were the warmest since modern records began in 1880, according to Nasa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

As the below visualisation, put together by the GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio, illustrates, the Earth’s long-term warming trend is only continuing.

Globally-averaged temperatures for 2015 shattered the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.13 degrees Celsius.

Only once before (1998) has a new record surpassed the previous by such an amount.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement on 20 January:

Climate change is the challenge of our generation, and NASA’s vital work on this important issue affects every person on Earth.

Today’s announcement not only underscores how critical NASA’s Earth observation program is, it is a key data point that should make policy makers stand up and take notice - now is the time to act on climate.

Watch the visualisation, showing temperature changes from 1880 to 2015 as a rolling five-year average, below: