Scientists' Explanation for Exploration 2

A Comparison of Northern and Southern Hemisphere Temperature Anomalies

The Mollwiede projection of Earth shows that there is more landmass in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. While perhaps not obvious just at a glance, the Northern Hemisphere’s surface is about 40% landmass and is covered by about 60% water in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere’s surface is about 20% landmass and is covered by 80% water.

You learned in the previous exploration that the land on Earth is warming more quickly than the oceans due to the oceans’ heat capacity. The reason that the Northern Hemisphere is warming more quickly is that this hemisphere has more landmass.

Mollwiede Map