Is Cairo Getting Hotter?
Short answer: yes. Cairo's average temperature has climbed roughly 0.6 degrees since the 1900s. That puts it in the lower half among the world's major cities for total warming. Here is what 48 years of data actually shows.
What stands out is the pace of change. Most of the warming has been concentrated in the last few decades, with the rate accelerating from the 1980s onward.
Average Annual Temperature by Decade
Cairo's GHCN record covers only 1901 to 1957, limiting what we can say about long-term trends. Even within that window, a 0.6 degree warming is visible. Egypt's meteorological service reports continued warming through the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with heatwaves becoming more frequent and intense. The Nile Delta region faces compound risks from rising temperatures and sea level rise.
Cairo's warming is 1.0 degrees below the average for the 29 cities we track globally.
Decade by Decade
| Decade | Avg Temp (C) | Change from 1900s |
|---|
How Cairo Compares Globally
Among the world's major cities, Cairo's warming rate places it below the average. Here is how Cairo stacks up against other global cities.
Key Numbers
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About This Data
Temperature data on this page comes from the Global Historical Climatology Network version 4 (GHCN v4), maintained by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. GHCN v4 contains monthly mean temperature data for over 25,000 stations across the globe, with records dating back to the 18th century for some stations. The data has been quality-controlled and homogenised using the Pairwise Homogeneity Algorithm to remove artificial discontinuities from station moves, equipment changes, and observation practice changes.
Cairo's primary station is Cairo, with records spanning 1901-1957. The "change" figures compare each decade's average to the 1900s baseline. Note that some of the warming in large cities is attributable to the urban heat island effect rather than regional climate change alone. The figures shown here include both components, as they represent what the city actually experiences.
NASA GISTEMP analysis, which processes GHCN v4 data, is a product of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. It is produced as a US Government work and is in the public domain.