Theoretically,one can calculate the information of steady-state geothermal gradient based on long-term temperature observations near the surface. We point out that it is difficult to determine heat flux in actual implementation by using meteorological records with a precision of 0. 1 ℃. However,it may make a breakthrough by statistically analyzing a large amount of accumulated temperature observations. The influence of global warming on shallow geothermal gradient is also discussed. Although the monotonous increase in the ground temperature in a long term of centennial scale indeed leads to the decrease in shallow geothermal gradient and to the deviation from the geothermal gradient connected with heat flux,the calculated geothermal gradient errors are still within an acceptable range if the warming amplitude is within 1 ℃. Deriving geothermal flux based on meteorological data by a high-precision digital thermometer is feasible,but it requires us to accumulate data for a long term from now on.