Warming of Global Soil at an Accelerated Pace

ERA5-Land reanalysis dataset were used to explore the characteristics of soil temperature variations and the results show that the global soil temperatures have been acceleratedly warming in the last 44 years (1980−2023), and the warming rate of global soil temperature during 2000−2023 is more than twice that during 1980−1999. From 1980 to 2023, hotspots of soil temperature warming mainly appear over the Arctic, the region from Mediterranean to North China, northern and central Africa, southern North America, and southern and central South America. 2023 is not only the hottest year regarding global surface air temperature and ocean temperature, but also the hottest year for the soil. Global land air temperature and soil temperature in four layers from August to December 2023 are the hottest in the same month on record. This study reveals that global soil temperatures have been acceleratedly warming for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, and has important implications for better understanding main characteristics of global warming.