To the ordinary person, the weather certainly seems to be getting warmer. Scientists tell us it is getting warmer, dangerously so, and they have many charts and graphs to prove it.
There are still doubters, however, who say the weather always changes and everything will be all right before long.
Charts and graphs can be difficult for people to understand. Ed Hawkins, a British climate scientist from the University of Reading, wanted to find an easy way to illustrate what is happening.
He had good temperature data beginning with 1850, a period known as "pre-industrial" – the time before heavy industries changed our world forever. Acting on a suggestion by colleague Jan Fuglestvedt, he designed an animation in which temperatures are presented in a continuous spiral.
Last week, he released his animation through his Twitter account (Ed Hawkins ) and it has been viewed by tens of thousands of people. Watch as it goes into motion.