The U.S. Climate Normals are a large suite of data products that provide information about typical climate conditions for thousands of locations across the United States. Normals act both as a ruler to compare today’s weather and tomorrow’s forecast, and as a predictor of conditions in the near future. The official normals are calculated for a uniform 30 year period, and consist of annual/seasonal, monthly, daily, and hourly averages and statistics of temperature, precipitation, and other climatological variables from almost 15,000 U.S. weather stations.

NCEI generates the official U.S. normals every 10 years in keeping with the needs of our user community and the requirements of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and National Weather Service (NWS). The 1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals are the latest in a series of decadal normals first produced in the 1950s. These data allow travelers to pack the right clothes, farmers to plant the best crop varieties, and utilities to plan for seasonal energy usage. Many other important economic decisions that are made beyond the predictive range of standard weather forecasts are either based on or influenced by climate normals.

The average temperature in December 2024 was 38.25 degrees Fahrenheit in the United States, the fourth-largest country in the world. The country has extremely diverse climates across its expansive landmass. Temperatures in the United States On the continental U.S., the southern regions face warm to extremely hot temperatures all year round, the Pacific Northwest tends to deal with rainy weather, the Mid-Atlantic sees all four seasons, and New England experiences the coldest winters in the country. The North American country has experienced an increase in the daily minimum temperatures since 1970. Consequently, the average annual temperature in the United States has seen a spike in recent years. Climate Change The entire world has seen changes in its average temperature as a result of climate change. Climate change occurs due to increased levels of greenhouse gases which act to trap heat in the atmosphere, preventing it from leaving the Earth. Greenhouse gases are emitted from various sectors but most prominently from burning fossil fuels. Climate change has significantly affected the average temperature across countries worldwide. In the United States, an increasing number of people have stated that they have personally experienced the effects of climate change. Not only are there environmental consequences due to climate change, but also economic ones. In 2022, for instance, extreme temperatures in the United States caused over 5.5 million U.S. dollars in economic damage. These economic ramifications occur for several reasons, which include higher temperatures, changes in regional precipitation, and rising sea levels.

The United States is responsible for almost 20 percent of global historical cumulative fossil and LULUCF carbon dioxide emissions from 1850 to 2021. During this period, the North American country contributed roughly 17 percent of global warming, despite representing just four percent of the current world population. The United States is the biggest contributor to global warming from 1850 to 2021.

This layer presents the best-known point and perimeter locations of wildfire occurrences within the United States over the past 7 days. Points mark a location within the wildfire area and provide current information about that wildfire. Perimeters are the line surrounding land that has been impacted by a wildfire.Consumption Best Practices:

As a service that is subject to very high usage, ensure peak performance and accessibility of your maps and apps by avoiding the use of non-cacheable relative Date/Time field filters. To accommodate filtering events by Date/Time, we suggest using the included "Age" fields that maintain the number of days or hours since a record was created or last modified, compared to the last service update. These queries fully support the ability to cache a response, allowing common query results to be efficiently provided to users in a high demand service environment. When ingesting this service in your applications, avoid using POST requests whenever possible. These requests can compromise performance and scalability during periods of high usage because they too are not cacheable.Source:  Wildfire points are sourced from Integrated Reporting of Wildland-Fire Information (IRWIN) and perimeters from National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). Current Incidents: This layer provides a near real-time view of the data being shared through the Integrated Reporting of Wildland-Fire Information (IRWIN) service. IRWIN provides data exchange capabilities between participating wildfire systems, including federal, state and local agencies. Data is synchronized across participating organizations to make sure the most current information is available. The display of the points are based on the NWCG Fire Size Classification applied to the daily acres attribute.Current Perimeters: This layer displays fire perimeters posted to the National Incident Feature Service. It is updated from operational data and may not reflect current conditions on the ground. For a better understanding of the workflows involved in mapping and sharing fire perimeter data, see the National Wildfire Coordinating Group Standards for Geospatial Operations.Update Frequency:  Every 15 minutes using the Aggregated Live Feed Methodology based on the following filters:Events modified in the last 7 daysEvents that are not given a Fire Out DateIncident Type Kind: FiresIncident Type Category: Prescribed Fire, Wildfire, and Incident Complex

Area Covered: United StatesWhat can I do with this layer? The data includes basic wildfire information, such as location, size, environmental conditions, and resource summaries. Features can be filtered by incident name, size, or date keeping in mind that not all perimeters are fully attributed.Attribute InformationThis is a list of attributes that benefit from additional explanation. Not all attributes are listed.Incident Type Category: This is a breakdown of events into more specific categories.Wildfire (WF) -A wildland fire originating from an unplanned ignition, such as lightning, volcanos, unauthorized and accidental human caused fires, and prescribed fires that are declared wildfires.Prescribed Fire (RX) - A wildland fire originating from a planned ignition in accordance with applicable laws, policies, and regulations to meet specific objectives.Incident Complex (CX) - An incident complex is two or more individual incidents in the same general proximity that are managed together under one Incident Management Team. This allows resources to be used across the complex rather than on individual incidents uniting operational activities.IrwinID: Unique identifier assigned to each incident record in both point and perimeter layers.

Acres: these typically refer to the number of acres within the current perimeter of a specific, individual incident, including unburned and unburnable islands.Discovery: An estimate of acres burning upon the discovery of the fire.Calculated or GIS:  A measure of acres calculated (i.e., infrared) from a geospatial perimeter of a fire.Daily: A measure of acres reported for a fire.Final: The measure of acres within the final perimeter of a fire. More specifically, the number of acres within the final fire perimeter of a specific, individual incident, including unburned and unburnable islands.

Dates: the various systems contribute date information differently so not all fields will be populated for every fire.FireDiscovery: The date and time a fire was reported as discovered or confirmed to exist. May also be the start date for reporting purposes.

Containment: The date and time a wildfire was declared contained. Control: The date and time a wildfire was declared under control.ICS209Report: The date and time of the latest approved ICS-209 report.Current: The date and time a perimeter is last known to be updated.FireOut: The date and time when a fire is declared out.ModifiedOnAge: (Integer) Computed days since event last modified.DiscoveryAge: (Integer) Computed days since event's fire discovery date.CurrentDateAge: (Integer) Computed days since perimeter last modified.CreateDateAge: (Integer) Computed days since perimeter entry created.

GACC: A code that identifies one of the wildland fire geographic area coordination centers. A geographic area coordination center is a facility that is used for the coordination of agency or jurisdictional resources in support of one or more incidents within a geographic coordination area.Fire Mgmt Complexity: The highest management level utilized to manage a wildland fire event.Incident Management Organization: The incident management organization for the incident, which may be a Type 1, 2, or 3 Incident Management Team (IMT), a Unified Command, a Unified Command with an IMT, National Incident Management Organization (NIMO), etc. This field is null if no team is assigned.Unique Fire Identifier: Unique identifier assigned to each wildland fire. yyyy = calendar year, SSUUUU = Point Of Origin (POO) protecting unit identifier (5 or 6 characters), xxxxxx = local incident identifier (6 to 10 characters)RevisionsJan 4, 2021: Added Integer fields 'Days Since...' to Current_Incidents point layer and Current_Perimeters polygon layer. These fields are computed when the data is updated, reflecting the current number of days since each record was last updated. This will aid in making 'age' related, cache friendly queries.Mar 12, 2021: Added second set of 'Age' fields for Event and Perimeter record creation, reflecting age in Days since service data update.Apr 21, 2021: Current_Perimeters polygon layer is now being populated by NIFC's newest data source. A new field was added, 'IncidentTypeCategory' to better distinguish Incident types for Perimeters and now includes type 'CX' or Complex Fires. Five fields were not transferrable, and as a result 'Comments', 'Label', 'ComplexName', 'ComplexID', and 'IMTName' fields will be Null moving forward.Apr 26, 2021: Updated Incident Layer Symbology to better clarify events, reduce download size and overhead of symbols. Updated Perimeter Layer Symbology to better distingish between Wildfires and Prescribed Fires.May 5, 2021: Slight modification to Arcade logic for Symbology, refining Age comparison to Zero for fires in past 24-hours.Aug 16, 2021: Enabled Time Series capability on Layers (off by default) using 'Fire Discovery Date' for Incidents and 'Creation Date' for Perimeters.This layer is provided for informational purposes and is not monitored 24/7 for accuracy and currency.If you would like to be alerted to potential issues or simply see when this Service will update next, please visit our Live Feed Status Page!

The average temperature in the contiguous United States reached 55.5 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius) in 2024, approximately 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 20th-century average. These levels represented a record since measurements started in 1895. Monthly average temperatures in the U.S. were also indicative of this trend. Temperatures and emissions are on the rise The rise in temperatures since 1975 is similar to the increase in carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. Although CO₂ emissions in recent years were lower than when they peaked in 2007, they were still generally higher than levels recorded before 1990. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and is the main driver of climate change. Extreme weather Scientists worldwide have found links between the rise in temperatures and changing weather patterns. Extreme weather in the U.S. has resulted in natural disasters such as hurricanes and extreme heat waves becoming more likely. Economic damage caused by extreme temperatures in the U.S. has amounted to hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars over the past few decades.

Drought occurs when a region has an imbalance between water supply and water demand over an extended period of time. Droughts can have significant environmental, economic, and social consequences. Between 1980 and the present time, the cost of drought exceeded 100 billion dollars, making drought monitoring a key factor in planning, preparedness, and mitigation efforts at all levels of government.Data Source: U.S. Drought Monitor, National Drought Mitigation Center, GISData DownloadUpdate Frequency:  Weekly, typically on Friday around 10:00AM UTC. Using the Aggregated Live Feed MethodologyFor Full Historical data: See USA Drought Intensity 2000 - Present Online Item!For Standard Symbology Style: See USA Drought Intensity - Current Conditions - Standard Color Scheme Online Item!Dataset Summary:This feature service provides access to current drought intensity categories for the entire USA. These data have been produced weekly since January 4, 2000 by the U.S. Drought Monitor, see the Full Historical data for the full time series. Drought intensity is classified according to the deviation of precipitation, stream flow, and soil moisture content from historically established norms, in addition to subjective observations and reported impacts from more than 350 partners across the country. New map data is released every Thursday to reflect the conditions of the previous week.Layer Summary:'US_Drought_Current': Polygon areas for most recent weekThis Layer contains a series of drought classification summaries that fall into two groups: Categorical Percent Area and Cumulative Percent Area.Categorical Percent Area statistic is the percent of the area in a certain drought category and excludes areas that are better or worse. For example, the D0 category is labeled as such and only shows the percent of the area experiencing abnormally dry conditions.Cumulative Percent Area statistics combine drought categories for a comprehensive percent of area in drought. For example, the D0-D4 category shows the percent of the area that is classified as D0 or worse.Drought Classification Categories are as follows:ClassDescriptionPossible ImpactsD0Abnormally DryGoing into drought: short-term dryness slows growth of crops/pastures. Coming out of drought: some lingering water deficits; drops/pastures not fully recovered.D1Moderate DroughtSome damage to crops/pastures; streams, reservoirs, or wells are low with some water shortages developing or imminent; voluntary water-use restrictions requested.D2Severe DroughtCrop/pasture losses are likely; water shortages are common and water retrictions are imposed.D3Extreme DroughtMajor crop/pasture losses; widespread water shortages or restrictions.D4Exceptional DroughtExceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses; shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells creating water emergencies.The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced in partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is the drought map that the USDA and IRS use to define which farms have been affected by drought conditions, defining who is eligible for federal relief funds.

Current Drought Intensity. This service is available to all ArcGIS Online users with organizational accounts.

Current annual implementation rates for activities included in the natural climate solutions pathways analysis for Oregon’s natural and working lands.

This survey, conducted in the United States in February 2014, shows if respondents assess today’s political climate as being more angry and bad tempered than in the past. In 2014, 69 percent of respondents thought that the current political climate is more angry and bad tempered than that of the past.

Drought occurs when a region has an imbalance between water supply and water demand over an extended period of time. Droughts can have significant environmental, economic, and social consequences. Between 1980 and the present time, the cost of drought exceeded 100 billion dollars, making drought monitoring a key factor in planning, preparedness, and mitigation efforts at all levels of government. Data Source: U.S. Drought Monitor, National Drought Mitigation Center, GISData DownloadUpdate Frequency:  Weekly, typically on Friday around 10:00AM UTC. Using the Aggregated Live Feed MethodologyFor Full Historical data: See USA Drought Intensity 2000 - Present Online Item!For Default Symbology Style: See USA Drought Intensity - Current Conditions Online Item!Dataset Summary:This feature service provides access to current drought intensity categories for the entire USA. These data have been produced weekly since January 4, 2000 by the U.S. Drought Monitor, see the Full Historical data for the full time series. Drought intensity is classified according to the deviation of precipitation, stream flow, and soil moisture content from historically established norms, in addition to subjective observations and reported impacts from more than 350 partners across the country. New map data is released every Thursday to reflect the conditions of the previous week.Layer Summary:'US_Drought_Current': Polygon areas for most recent weekThis Layer contains a series of drought classification summaries that fall into two groups: Categorical Percent Area and Cumulative Percent Area.

Categorical Percent Area statistic is the percent of the area in a certain drought category and excludes areas that are better or worse. For example, the D0 category is labeled as such and only shows the percent of the area experiencing abnormally dry conditions.

Cumulative Percent Area statistics combine drought categories for a comprehensive percent of area in drought. For example, the D0-D4 category shows the percent of the area that is classified as D0 or worse.Drought Classification Categories are as follows:

Class Description Possible Impacts

D0 Abnormally Dry Going into drought: short-term dryness slows growth of crops/pastures. Coming out of drought: some lingering water deficits; drops/pastures not fully recovered.

D1 Moderate Drought Some damage to crops/pastures; streams, reservoirs, or wells are low with some water shortages developing or imminent; voluntary water-use restrictions requested.

D2 Severe Drought Crop/pasture losses are likely; water shortages are common and water retrictions are imposed.

D3 Extreme Drought Major crop/pasture losses; widespread water shortages or restrictions.

D4 Exceptional Drought Exceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses; shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells creating water emergencies. The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced in partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is the drought map that the USDA and IRS use to define which farms have been affected by drought conditions, defining who is eligible for federal relief funds.

Drought occurs when a region has an imbalance between water supply and water demand over an extended period of time. Droughts can have significant environmental, economic, and social consequences. Between 1980 and the present time, the cost of drought exceeded 100 billion dollars, making drought monitoring a key factor in planning, preparedness, and mitigation efforts at all levels of government.

This feature service provides access to current drought intensity categories for the entire USA. These data have been produced weekly since January 4, 2000 by the U.S. Drought Monitor, see the Full Historical data for the full time series. Drought intensity is classified according to the deviation of precipitation, stream flow, and soil moisture content from historically established norms, in addition to subjective observations and reported impacts from more than 350 partners across the country. New map data is released every Thursday to reflect the conditions of the previous week.This Layer contains a series of drought classification summaries that fall into two groups: Categorical Percent Area and Cumulative Percent Area.

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Gasoline Prices in the United States increased to 0.82 USD/Liter in February from 0.81 USD/Liter in January of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Gasoline Prices - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

This data publication includes raster digital files containing plant hardiness zones of current climate (1981–2010) and future climates (2070–2099; CanESM2, GFDL-ESM2G, and HadGEM2-ES general circulation models at representative concentration pathway 8.5) in the conterminous United States. Plant hardiness zones represent the coldest day of the year, averaged over 30 years. For the plant hardiness zones, we identified the lowest daily minimum temperature of the winter-centric year (July–June) and then averaged each year’s extreme daily minimum during 30 years. We assigned 5.6 °Celsius (°C) zones and 2.8 °C half zones.Visualization of plant hardiness zones of current climate (1981–2010) and future climates (2070–2099) in the United States.Original metadata date was 08/09/2019. Minor metadata updates were made on 08/21/2019.

Energy consumption in the United States produced 4.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (GtCO₂) in 2023 - a decrease of 2.7 percent from the previous year. U.S. CO₂ emissions from energy consumption have fallen by approximately 20 percent since 2005. Sources of emissions in the U.S. The main source of CO₂ emissions in the U.S. is the transportation sector. For many years, the power sector was the country’s biggest contributor to CO₂ emissions, but the transition towards cleaner energy sources and a shift away from coal-fired power generation – the most carbon intensive fossil fuel – have slashed emissions from this sector. Meanwhile, transportation emissions have continued to rise, except for an unprecedented drop in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19. U.S. transportation emissions The U.S. is the biggest contributor to global transportation emissions by far. The states with the largest transportation-related emissions in the U.S. are Texas and California, which combined account for almost one quarter of total U.S. transportation emissions.

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Contains data from the World Bank's data portal. There is also a consolidated country dataset on HDX.

Natural and man-made environmental resources – fresh water, clean air, forests, grasslands, marine resources, and agro-ecosystems – provide sustenance and a foundation for social and economic development. The need to safeguard these resources crosses all borders. Today, the World Bank is one of the key promoters and financiers of environmental upgrading in the developing world. Data here cover forests, biodiversity, emissions, and pollution. Other indicators relevant to the environment are found under data pages for Agriculture & Rural Development, Energy & Mining, Infrastructure, and Urban Development.

Climate change threatens food production, yet gaps remain in our understanding of these threats to aquaculture, the fastest growing food production subsector. To build climate-resilient practices and policies we need to quantify and map current and future climate threats to aquaculture. Here, we explore how downscaled climate change [SSP 2 (eq. RCP 4.5) and SSP 5 (eq. RCP8.5), CMIP6] threats – including water scarcity, flooding, and increasing temperature – may directly affect United States (US) freshwater farmed fish (N = 7) based on their biological thermal tolerances and indirectly challenge the operations required for production, including to the human workforce. Aquaculture in the US is dominated by catfish, trout, and tilapia production and is widespread, with some form of finfish aquaculture present in every state and nearly half of all counties across the country. Given the current location of catfish, tilapia, bass, and carp in the US and their tolerance to warmer conditions, we find increasing temperatures are less likely to biologically impact these species negatively. In contrast, current trout, sturgeon, and perch production will be biologically threatened by rising temperatures. With respect to operational needs for facilities, increases in ‘wet bulb’ temperatures in the Southeast will regularly challenge human physiological limits and constrain worker capacity. Drought in the Southwest will also limit an intrinsically water dependent system, affecting nearly all taxa. While current areas of aquaculture will tend to become increasingly challenging for farmed fishes, new potential habitats will open up for nearly all species. Overall, in the absence of immediate greenhouse gas mitigation, there are several non-mutually exclusive climate adaptations, yet these adaptations can be extremely costly. Ultimately, freshwater aquaculture in the US is going to be under intense climate pressure, which may drive out small operations and cause the country to further increase dependence on international aquatic food imports.

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