Saturday, July 17, 2010
For residents of the Northeast wondering if the extreme heat they’ve endured this summer is above normal, the answer is yes. According to experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2010 is on pace to become the warmest year since record-keeping began in 1880.
June already has taken top honors for the warmest month in recorded history as far as global land and ocean surface temperatures are concerned. NOAA added: “Worldwide average land surface temperature [as opposed to combined land and ocean temperature] was the warmest on record for June and the April-June period, and the second warmest on record for the year-to-date (January-June) period, behind 2007.”
The 10 warmest years for average global temperatures recorded in the last 130 years have occurred in the last 15 years.
This year the regions experiencing conditions notably warmer-than-average include Peru, the central and eastern U.S., and eastern and western Asia.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
NOAA: June, April to June, and Year-to-Date Global Temperatures are Warmest on Record (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
June 2010 Global State of the Climate – Supplemental Figures and Information (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
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