The year 2010 tied with 2005 as the warmest year since records began in 1880. The annual global combined land and ocean surface temperature was 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th century average. The range associated with this value is plus or minus 0.07°C (0.13°F). The 2010 combined land and ocean surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was also the warmest on record, while the combined land and ocean surface temperature in the Southern Hemisphere was the sixth warmest such period on record. The annual globally averaged land temperature was 0.96°C (1.73°F) above average, which tied with 2005 as the second warmest year record. The range associated with this value is plus or minus 0.11°C (0.20°F). The warmest year was 2007, at 0.99°C (1.78°F) above the 20th century average. The decadal global land and ocean average temperature anomaly for 2001–2010 was the warmest decade on record for the globe, with a surface global temperature of 0.56°C (1.01°F) above the 20th century average. This surpassed the previous decadal record (1991–2000) value of 0.36°C (0.65°F).Huh. Warmest decade on record. Imagine that. Wait - you don't have to. It really happened.
January 14, 2011
State Of The Climate (2010)
Since you won't see this in The Trib, here's some of NOAA's Global Highlights from 2010:
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3 comments:
Yes, the global average temperature as estimated by NOAA increased from 1976 to 2002. But since 2002 it has been flat, leading some to wonder whether global warming is accelerating or leveling off.
2010 was an El Nino year, which is why it was warmer than the recent baseline. A single El Nino probably does not signal a long term trend, just as the current cold snap does not signal a long term downtrend.
Wait, if its been flat since 2002, how could tie with 2010 as the warmest on record? Didn't 2005 follow 2002? Since you indicate that its significant that 2010 was an El Nino year, was 2005 also an El Nino year? According to this, it wasn't.
Elliot, you can take comfort that the current US House of Representatives will not take any action to curb greenhouse gases emissions or on any other part of global warming, for the next two years. For all I know, they may pass bills claiming that God would not allow global warming to occur.
And I am sure that most here would agree with you that the current cold snap (here) is not indicative of any one specific trend. But Froth's questions re worth considerin, as is the fact that I do not believe either NOAA or the IPCC agrees that temperatures have been flt since 2002.
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