Earth's temperature up by one degree Celsius since 1950s

Scientists at Berkeley University, led by physicist Richard Muller, gathered 1.6 billion temperature archived records dating back to 15 worldwide sources, under Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures.

It shows deviation from the mean temperature over two centuries - and overall global warming since the industrial revolution, the Daily Mail reports.  To highlight their findings, BEST researchers put all the data into one alarming video of a warming world visualising surface temperature records.

The one degree Celsius rise in temperature matches estimates by the world's respected climate watchers who maintain official records.  These include the Met Office with the University of East Anglia, Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Muller said: "My hope is that this will win over those people who are properly sceptical." His survey - the biggest open database of temperature records - was focused on producing a transparent and independent assessment of global warming.

The Berkeley study found that the so-called "urban heat" which made cities warmer than surrounding rural areas, did not significantly contribute to average land temperature rises.