Ocean Heat Lag Skews Climate Reports as Land Warms Faster Than Sea

Everywhere Is Warming Faster Than the Rest of the World — Sabine Hossenfelder

Sabine Hossenfelder

Media claims that every nation is warming faster than the rest of the world stem from statistical confusion and the physical reality that land naturally heats faster than the oceans covering 70% of the planet.

AI-assisted summary of Everywhere Is Warming Faster Than the Rest of the World — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published:

Key ideas

  • Frequent news reports claim individual countries and regions—such as Europe, Canada, Israel, and the South Pole—are warming faster than the rest of the world, creating the mathematical illusion that everywhere is simultaneously warming faster than everywhere else. (0:00)
  • The apparent paradox arises partly from semantic slippage: media outlets consistently use the superlative phrase "faster than the rest of the world" as a colloquial synonym for the statistical metric "faster than the global average." (1:48)
  • The primary physical mechanism is that oceans cover roughly 70% of Earth's surface and warm significantly slower than land, keeping the global average baseline low enough that virtually all major continental landmasses exceed it. (4:10)
  • Among continental land regions, the South Pole ranks as the fastest-warming area overall, while Europe is currently the fastest-warming populated continent. (5:30)

Detailed notes

## Background Published by physicist Sabine Hossenfelder on YouTube on July 31, 2026, this video investigates an apparent paradox across media reporting: why virtually every nation and region claims to be warming faster than everywhere else. The video description addresses how real scientific studies spawn seemingly contradictory, alarmist headlines and highlights a sponsored conservation effort with Planet Wild.

## TL;DR News reports worldwide regularly declare that regions from Europe and Canada to China and the South Pole are warming faster than the rest of the planet, creating an apparent mathematical impossibility. Sabine Hossenfelder demonstrates that this confusion stems from two distinct factors: a semantic slip where journalists write 'faster than the rest' instead of 'above average,' and basic planetary physics. Because approximately 70% of Earth is ocean water—which circulates heat downward and warms far more slowly than dry ground—the global average baseline is heavily weighted downward, meaning nearly every continental landmass naturally warms faster than the planet as a whole.

## Atmosphere & style The presentation is punchy, dryly witty, and intellectually refreshing, dismantling sensationalist journalism with cool, rational clarity. Sabine uses satirical asides—such as joking about a Walmart car park warming faster than the universe—to keep viewers engaged while peeling back layers of statistical confusion. The viewing experience feels like having an astute, no-nonsense scientist demystify confusing news items, turning an alarming scientific contradiction into an intuitive, common-sense lesson in planetary thermodynamics.

## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=0s) Frequent news reports claim individual countries and regions—such as Europe, Canada, Israel, and the South Pole—are warming faster than the rest of the world, creating the mathematical illusion that everywhere is simultaneously warming faster than everywhere else. - [01:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=108s) The apparent paradox arises partly from semantic slippage: media outlets consistently use the superlative phrase "faster than the rest of the world" as a colloquial synonym for the statistical metric "faster than the global average." - [04:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=250s) The primary physical mechanism is that oceans cover roughly 70% of Earth's surface and warm significantly slower than land, keeping the global average baseline low enough that virtually all major continental landmasses exceed it. - [05:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=330s) Among continental land regions, the South Pole ranks as the fastest-warming area overall, while Europe is currently the fastest-warming populated continent.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=0s) Global news media repeatedly publish claims that specific regions—including Europe, Canada, Israel, Africa, and China—are warming faster than the rest of the planet. - [01:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=60s) These headlines originate from real peer-reviewed papers and government reports rather than journalistic invention, creating perceived contradictions across the scientific literature. - [00:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=30s) Reported rates include Europe and Canada warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, and the South Pole warming three times faster. - [01:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=108s) Journalists frequently conflate 'faster than the rest' with 'faster than average,' misleading readers into assuming an area is the single fastest-warming place overall. - [02:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=125s) In a standard normal distribution, having roughly half of all observations perform above the numerical average is an expected statistical property, not an anomaly. - [04:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=250s) New Zealand is a notable populated exception lacking outsized warming headlines, largely because its regional climate is dominated by surrounding ocean waters. - [04:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=270s) Calculating global average surface temperature incorporates the oceans, which constitute approximately 70% of Earth's total surface area. - [04:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=280s) Because water circulates heat deep into the water column, oceans warm much more slowly than land, pulling the global average rate downward. - [05:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=310s) Because the 'rest of the world' is predominantly ocean water, nearly all continental landmasses naturally warm faster than the global mean surface baseline. - [05:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=315s) Headlines comparing land temperatures to the global baseline are numerically accurate but communicatively deceptive, as the public expects comparisons against other land areas. - [05:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=330s) When comparing landmasses to one another, the South Pole is the fastest-warming territory globally, and Europe is the fastest-warming populated continent.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=0s) The Paradox of Universal "Faster Than Average" Warming

A survey of news headlines over recent years presents an apparent mathematical impossibility: almost every single place on Earth claims to be warming faster than everywhere else. As Sabine Hossenfelder observes, this creates an obvious paradox: "This can't possibly be, can it? Unless the rest of the world has left and I mean who knows have you checked on Uzbekistan lately?" A review of media coverage shows that these headlines are genuinely everywhere: reports announce that New England is warming faster than the rest of the world, Europe is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, Canada is warming twice as fast, Israel is warming almost twice as fast, and Australia is heating faster than the rest of the world. After slipping in a satirical headline—claiming the car park behind Walmart is warming faster than the rest of the known universe just to see if viewers are paying attention—she lists further examples: China is warming faster than the global average, Africa is warming more and faster than the rest of the world, the Middle East is heating nearly twice as fast as the global average, the South Pole is warming three times faster, and Finland is warming faster than the rest of the world.

These headlines are not journalistic fabrications; every single one traces back to a peer-reviewed scientific paper or a report issued by a government institution. While the academic journals vary in prestige, the proliferation of such claims creates the impression that science is generating contradictory, alarmist conclusions. As Sabine Hossenfelder summarizes: “The journals are of rather mixed quality, but either way, it seems like contradictory studies are being published in the scientific literature, leading to unnecessarily alarming headlines which claim every part of the world warms faster than the other.” However, the apparent contradiction stems from a two-step misunderstanding involving both linguistic framing and planetary physics.

- Documented headline claims include: - Europe: warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. - Canada: warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. - Israel: warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the world. - Middle East: heating nearly twice as fast as the global average. - South Pole: warming three times faster than the rest of Earth. - China, Africa, Finland, and New England: all reported as warming faster than the global baseline.

---

[01:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=108s) The Semantic Confusion: "Faster Than the Rest" vs. "Above Average"

The first component of the explanation is purely semantic. Media coverage routinely treats the phrases "warming faster than the rest of the planet" and "warming faster than the global average" as interchangeable synonyms, even though colloquial speech interprets them very differently. To illustrate the flaw, consider a forest where trees grow at varying rates according to a normal distribution. Statistically, roughly half of the trees will grow faster than the average growth rate. If someone singles out one tree and states that it grows "faster than average," that is ordinary statistics; if they say it grows "faster than the rest of the trees," everyday language interprets that to mean it is the single fastest-growing tree in the entire forest.

Because journalism persistently substitutes the superlative-sounding phrasing for a simple statistical midpoint, readers are led to believe that every territory is simultaneously setting the absolute record. As Sabine Hossenfelder points out: “They write 'faster than the rest' and mean 'faster than average.'” Once the headline is translated back into statistical reality, the fact that dozens of countries warm faster than average ceases to be contradictory. It is simply an expression of basic distribution, comparable to noting that half of the population has an above-average IQ.

---

[02:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=173s) Ecosystem Restoration with Planet Wild

Addressing environmental challenges requires practical intervention alongside scientific understanding, which Sabine highlights through her ongoing partnership with Planet Wild. Planet Wild is a community-driven environmental protection organization that funds boots-on-the-ground ecosystem restoration by collaborating with different grassroots conservation initiatives each month. A core strength of the organization is radical transparency: every mission is thoroughly documented through video reports released on YouTube, allowing members to witness the direct, tangible results of their financial support without wondering how their money was allocated.

One notable project involved purchasing an abandoned fish farm in Poland and converting the degraded land into a thriving beaver sanctuary designed to re-establish indigenous biodiversity. Characterizing the effort, Sabine Hossenfelder remarks: “This is a lovely example of the low-cost, high-impact work that Planet Wild is doing.” To support the effort, she offers to personally pay for the first month's subscription for the first 100 viewers who register using her designated code.

---

[04:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=250s) The Physical Reality: The Rest of the World Is Water

Even if "faster than the rest" merely means "above average," an obvious question remains: which regions make up the other half of the planet that must be warming *slower* than average? Across global media coverage, virtually the only populated region lacking headlines about outsized warming is New Zealand. This anomaly provides the crucial physical explanation: New Zealand is isolated in the middle of vast oceans, and ocean water exerts primary control over its regional climate.

When climate scientists compute the "global average temperature," their calculations encompass the entire surface of the Earth. Approximately 70% of Earth's surface is covered by oceans, and water warms far more slowly than dry land because fluids circulate heat into deeper layers rather than concentrating thermal energy at the surface. Consequently, the global average is overwhelmingly weighted downward by ocean temperatures. NASA temperature visualizations clearly illustrate this effect, showing intense warming hotspots clustered heavily over continental landmasses while ocean temperatures rise far more moderately.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Land Warming vs Global Average Mechanism accDescr: Flowchart showing how ocean surface area depresses the global average warming rate, causing nearly all landmasses to warm faster than average. subgraph Earth["Earth's Surface Area"] Oceans["Oceans (~70% of Earth)<br/>Circulate heat deep downward<br/>Warm at a slower rate"] Land["Continental Land (~30% of Earth)<br/>Heat remains near surface<br/>Warms at a faster rate"] end Oceans --> Baseline["Global Average Baseline<br/>Heavily depressed by ocean heat capacity"] Land --> Comp{"Comparative Metric"} Baseline --> Comp Comp --> Outcome["Nearly all landmasses exceed the global average,<br/>spawning misleading 'faster than the rest' headlines"] ```

The fundamental driver behind the headlines is straightforward: the "rest of the world" is mostly ocean, and land warms faster than ocean water. As Sabine Hossenfelder explains: “So the basic reason that every country seems to be warming faster than the rest of the world is that the rest of the world is water and land is warming faster than the water.” While the headlines are technically defensible from a purely numerical standpoint, they remain profoundly deceptive because readers intuitively interpret "faster than the rest of the world" to mean faster than other landmasses, rather than faster than seawater. When evaluating land alone, the single fastest-warming region on the planet is the South Pole, while Europe ranks as the fastest-warming populated continent—giving Europe, as she wryly notes, at least one competition it is still winning.

## Notable quotes > [04:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=250s) So the basic reason that every country seems to be warming faster than the rest of the world is that the rest of the world is water and land is warming faster than the water. — Sabine Hossenfelder

> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc&t=0s) The journals are of rather mixed quality, but either way, it seems like contradictory studies are being published in the scientific literature, leading to unnecessarily alarming headlines which claim every part of the world warms faster than the other. — Sabine Hossenfelder

## Mentioned Sabine Hossenfelder, Planet Wild, NASA, Walmart, New England, Europe, Canada, Israel, Australia, China, Africa, Middle East, South Pole, Finland, Uzbekistan, Poland, New Zealand

## Video description Want to restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with my code SABINE47 will get the first month paid for by me: https://planetwild.com/r/sabinehossenfelder/join/47 If you want to get to know them better first, check out their mission turning a fish farm into a beaver paradise: https://planetwild.com/r/sabinehossenfelder/m41/47

Everywhere, it turns out, is warming faster than the rest of the world. Every region, every country, all of them, faster than the rest. You may sense a slight problem with this. The headlines are real, the papers are real, and yet something doesn't add up. Let's take a look.

#science #sciencenews #climatechange #globalwarming #physics

👕T-shirts, mugs, posters and more: ➜ https://sabines-store.dashery.com/ 💌 Support me on Donorbox ➜ https://donorbox.org/swtg 👉 Transcript with links to references on Patreon ➜ https://www.patreon.com/Sabine 📝 Transcripts and written news on Substack ➜ https://sciencewtg.substack.com/ 📩 Free weekly science newsletter ➜ https://sabinehossenfelder.com/newsletter/ 👂 Audio only podcast ➜ https://open.spotify.com/show/0MkNfXlKnMPEUMEeKQYmYC 🔗 Join this channel to get access to perks ➜ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1yNl2E66ZzKApQdRuTQ4tw/join 📚 Buy my book ➜ https://amzn.to/3HSAWJW

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc)

中文简报

陆地升温快于海洋,海洋吸热滞后效应影响气候报道 媒体声称各国变暖速度均快于世界其他地区,这一说法源于统计上的混淆,以及陆地升温速度自然快于覆盖地球70%的海洋这一物理事实。 全球新闻报道经常宣称从欧洲、加拿大到中国和南极等各个地区的变暖速度都快于地球其他地方,这在数学上看似绝无可能。Sabine Hossenfelder指出,这种困惑源于两个不同因素:一是记者的语义滑坡,将“高于平均水平”写成了“快于其他地区”;二是基础的行星物理学原理。由于地球约70%的面积是海洋,而海水会将热量向下循环,其升温速度远慢于干燥陆地,导致全球平均基准线被大幅拉低,这意味着几乎所有大陆板块的自然升温速度都快于整个地球的平均水平。 频繁的新闻报道声称欧洲、加拿大、以色列和南极等个别国家和地区的变暖速度快于世界其他地区,从而造成了一种数学上的错觉,即所有地方的升温速度似乎同时快于其他所有地方。 (0:00) 这一看似矛盾的现象部分源于语义上的混淆:媒体普遍将具有最高级意味的短语“快于世界其他地区”,作为统计指标“快于全球平均水平”的通俗同义词使用。 (1:48) 其主要的物理机制在于,海洋覆盖了地球约70%的表面,其升温速度显著慢于陆地,这使得全球平均基准线维持在较低水平,从而让几乎所有主要大陆板块的升温速度都超过了该基准。 (4:10) 在大陆各区域中,南极是整体上升温最快的地区,而欧洲则是目前变暖速度最快的人类居住大陆。 (5:30)

Reading summary

Sabine Hossenfelder argues that ubiquitous media reports claiming nearly every region is warming "faster than the rest of the world" stem from misleading semantic phrasing and planetary physics rather than flawed climate science. The Paradox of Universal Record Warming (0:00) A recurring pattern in environmental journalism suggests an apparent impossibility: almost every geographic territory claims to warm faster than everywhere else. News headlines routinely announce that Europe and Canada are warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, Israel and the Middle East are heating nearly twice as fast as the global baseline, the South Pole is warming three times faster, and regions such as China, Africa, Finland, and New England are all outpacing global averages. These reports are not media inventions; each claim traces directly to peer-reviewed scientific literature or official government agency assessments. However, because these studies originate from journals of mixed prestige, their cumulative presentation creates the false impression that climate science is generating contradictory, alarmist findings in which every location simultaneously outpaces every other. Conflating Global Averages with Superlatives (1:48) The first factor behind this apparent contradiction is semantic confusion. News outlets routinely treat the phrase "warming faster than the rest of the planet" as an exact synonym for "warming faster than the global average," despite the significant difference in everyday language. In vernacular speech, stating that a territory warms "faster than the rest" implies a superlative record—the single fastest on Earth. Statistically, exceeding a global average is standard distribution. Using the analogy of a forest where tree growth follows a normal curve, roughly half of all trees grow faster than the average rate, and roughly half of any human population possesses an above-average IQ. Single out any individual tree in that faster half, and it is accurate to say it grows faster than average, but inaccurate to imply it outpaces all remaining trees. By substituting a superlative-sounding phrase for a mathematical midpoint, journalism creates the illusion of conflicting records. Ocean Heat Dynamics Depress Global Baselines (4:10) The physical reality explaining why virtually every inhabited region exceeds the global average lies in the composition of Earth's surface. Approximately 70% of the planet is covered by oceans, and water warms far more slowly than continental land because fluids circulate heat downward into deep layers rather than concentrating thermal energy at the surface. When scientists calculate a single global average temperature, this massive water surface overwhelmingly pulls the baseline downward. Because the global average is heavily weighted by slowly warming oceans, nearly all dry landmasses naturally warm faster than the planetary average. This explains why continental land shows intense thermal hotspots on NASA temperature visualizations, while isolated oceanic areas like New Zealand rarely generate headlines about outsized warming. The "rest of the world" referenced in headlines is largely ocean water, meaning land is merely warming faster than the sea. While headlines claiming land regions warm faster than the rest of the world are technically defensible relative to the ocean-dominated global average, they mislead readers who assume the comparison is against other landmasses. When evaluating land alone, the South Pole is the fastest-warming region on the planet, while Europe ranks as the fastest-warming populated continent.

精炼阅读摘要

物理学者 Sabine Hossenfelder 指出,全球各地普遍声称自身变暖速度“快于世界其他地区”的矛盾现象,本质上是由媒体的语言混淆与地球物理特性共同造成的;陆地升温速度普遍快于占地表七成的海洋,导致几乎所有陆地区域的升温幅度都高于全球平均水平。 遍布全球的升温悖论与学术根源 (0:00) 近年来全球主流媒体的新闻报道呈现出一个看似违背数学逻辑的现象:几乎每个国家或地区都在宣称自己的变暖速度快于其他所有地方。报道涵盖了世界主要区域,例如新英格兰的变暖速度被指快于世界其他地区,欧洲、加拿大和以色列的升温速度是全球其他地区的两倍或近两倍,中东以近两倍于全球平均的速度升温,南极点的变暖速度达到三倍,而中国、非洲和芬兰等地的升温也都高于全球基准。这些报道并非记者凭空捏造,每一条结论都能追溯至同行评议的学术期刊论文或政府机构发布的研究报告。尽管各学术期刊的学术声誉存在差异,但这类结论的大量涌现,容易让公众误以为气候科学界正在得出互相矛盾且带有恐慌色彩的结论。 词义混淆:快于其他地区与高于均值 (1:48) 这一表面矛盾的第一个核心原因在于语言表述上的语义混淆。媒体在报道中普遍将“比全球平均水平升温更快”(warming faster than the global average)与“比世界其他地区升温更快”(warming faster than the rest of the planet)混为一谈,但两者的日常语义理解完全不同。以正态分布中树木的生长速度为例,统计上约有一半的树木生长速度会高于平均水平;如果指出某棵树生长“高于平均水平”,这仅是基础统计学事实,但若表述为该树“长得比其余树木都快”,日常语境就会将其误解为它是整片森林中生长最快的一棵。新闻报道长期使用具有最高级意味的措辞来代替基础的平均线对比,让读者误以为每个地区都在同时打破绝对升温纪录,掩盖了这仅是单纯统计分布的事实。 海洋吸热特性拉低全球升温基准 (4:10) 从地球物理学机制来看,即便将表述修正为“高于平均水平”,仍需解释为何绝大多数有人类居住的陆地都在以高于均值的速度升温。全球仅有少数如新西兰这样孤立于广阔大洋中的陆地缺乏此类升温标题,这揭示了海洋对区域气候的决定性控制作用。气候科学家在计算“全球平均气温”时,测量范围涵盖了整个地球表面,而海洋占据了地表约70%的面积。由于水流能将热量向深层循环输送,而不是像干燥陆地那样将热量集中在地表,海洋的升温速度远慢于陆地。因此,占绝大多数面积的海洋温度极大地拉低了全球平均升温基线。美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的气温可视化数据也证实,剧烈升温的热点主要集中在大陆板块上,而广袤海洋的升温幅度则相对温和得多。 陆地升温格局与实际极值分布 (4:10) 媒体宣称的“世界其他地区”在客观事实上大部分是海水,因此所有大陆相较于包含海洋的全球平均基准,在数值上均呈现出更快的升温速度。这种新闻报道在纯粹的数字层面上或许能自圆其说,但由于读者直觉上会将“其他地区”理解为其他陆地或国家而非海洋,这种传播方式极具误导性。在仅对比陆地区域时,全球升温速度最快的地点实际是南极点,升温速度达到了全球均值的三倍;而在所有有人类定居的大陆中,欧洲则是变暖速度最快的大洲。厘清陆地与海洋升温速率的差异,有助于公众理性理解气候监测数据,摆脱相互冲突的媒介话语所带来的认知困惑。 综上所述,看似矛盾的全球性升温标题是语义泛化与海洋热容量物理特征叠加的结果。科学界发布的数据在严格定义下均能成立,但科学传播若持续脱离参照基准、混淆陆地与海洋的吸热差异,将继续加剧公众对气候科学研究一致性与客观性的误解。

Source quotes

[4:10] Sabine Hossenfelder: So the basic reason that every country seems to be warming faster than the rest of the world is that the rest of the world is water and land is warming faster than the water. [0:00] Sabine Hossenfelder: The journals are of rather mixed quality, but either way, it seems like contradictory studies are being published in the scientific literature, leading to unnecessarily alarming headlines which claim every part of the world warms faster than the other.

Original transcript

[0:00] I recently came across a compilation of headlines  from the past years according to which quote [0:07] "Everywhere is warming faster than the rest of the  world." This can't possibly be, can it? Unless the [0:13] rest of the world has left and I mean who knows  have you checked on Uzbekistan lately? In any [0:19] case, let's have a look. First let's see whether  these headlines actually exist. New England is [0:26] warming up faster than the rest of the world.  Europe is warming twice as fast as the rest of [0:31] the planet. Canada warming twice as fast as the  rest of the world. Israel warming up almost twice [0:38] as fast as rest of world. Australia is heating up  faster than the rest of the world. Car park behind [0:44] Walmart is warming faster than the rest of the  known universe. Just checking if you're listening. [0:50] China is warming faster than a global average.  Africa is warming more and faster than rest of the [0:55] world. Middle East heating nearly twice as fast  as global average. South Pole warming three times [1:01] faster than the rest of Earth. Finland is warming  faster than the rest of the world and so on. Okay, [1:07] so the headlines are all real. The next thing  to check is whether the headlines are about real [1:14] papers. The answer is yes. For each of these  headlines, there's a scientific publication [1:20] that's been peer-reviewed or a report from some  government institution. The journals are of rather [1:27] mixed quality, but either way, it seems like  contradictory studies are being published in the [1:34] scientific literature, leading to unnecessarily  alarming headlines which claim every part of the [1:40] world warms faster than the other. That's what it  might seem, but there's something else going on, [1:48] and it's a two-step explanation. First, I asked  the question of what the headlines actually mean. [1:54] Most of the headlines say is, "warming faster  than the rest of the planet" or in some cases, [2:01] "faster than the global average". The media  takes these two things to mean the same, [2:07] but colloquially we don't interpret them the  same. Suppose you have a forest with trees [2:12] that are growing. The trees don't all grow at  exactly the same speed. Some grow a little faster, [2:18] some a little slower. If the height is normally  distributed, you expect half of the trees to grow [2:24] faster than average. Okay? But if you pick a  particular tree and say it grows faster than [2:29] the rest of the trees, you'd mean it's actually  the fastest, not just faster than average. So [2:35] this is the first problem with the headlines.  They write "faster than the rest" and mean [2:39] "faster than average". It's then not very surprising that  so many countries warm faster than the rest. It's [2:46] like saying half of Americans are more intelligent  than average because that's how averages work. [2:53] Environmental destruction affects us all. But  luckily, we can do something about it together, [2:58] you and I and my friends at Planet Wild. Planet  Wild is a community-based environmental protection [3:05] organization. They're funding the restoration of  ecosystems to preserve our nature and wildlife by [3:11] partnering with different organizations every  month. I've been part of their community for [3:16] years now and I've been really impressed by their  work. They document all their projects with video [3:23] reports that you can find right here on YouTube.  This way you get to see the immediate impact of [3:29] your contribution. And that's what I find so great  about Planet Wild. They don't leave me wondering [3:35] where my money goes. In one of their recent  missions, they bought an abandoned fish farm [3:40] in Poland and turned it into a beaver paradise to  restore the local biodiversity. This is a lovely [3:47] example of the lowcost, high impact work that  Planet Wild is doing. Joining Planet Wild is a [3:54] simple yet effective way to help this planet.  And to give you a little more encouragement, [4:00] I'll cover the first month of your subscription  if you're among the first 100 people signing up [4:06] with my code. And now back to the science news.  Still, you might say, "Okay, but then which are [4:12] the other half of places that are warming slower  than average?" Pretty much the only place I could [4:18] not find warming faster in the headlines was New  Zealand. And indeed, that gives you a clue. New [4:25] Zealand is surrounded by water and the temperature  of the water very strongly determines the climate [4:32] in New Zealand. The thing is that when climate  scientists speak of the global average temperature [4:38] that includes the temperature of the oceans but  most of the surface of Earth about 70% is covered [4:45] by oceans and the oceans warm slower than land  basically because they're better at circulating [4:50] the heat down. So the basic reason that every  country seems to be warming faster than the rest [4:55] of the world is that the rest of the world is  water and land is warming faster than the water. [5:01] This video from NASA data is a good summary. You  can see basically how the hotspots hover over the [5:07] land areas. Not entirely, of course, but mostly.  I'm not sure exactly what lesson to draw from [5:13] this. The headlines are not wrong exactly, but  misleading. The way we would naturally interpret [5:19] them is not the correct meaning. If I read "this  region warms faster than the rest of the world", [5:25] I'd interpret this to mean "this region is the  fastest warming region of land" and not that "it [5:32] warms faster than the oceans". But then which  region of land is the one that does warm the [5:37] fastest? That would be the South Pole. And if  you look only at populated regions, the fastest [5:43] warming one is Europe. at least one competition  Europe still winning at. Don't forget to check out [5:50] Planet Wild through the link in the description or  by scanning the QR code. If you want to learn more [5:56] about them, first check out their Beaver mission  here. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.