Summit County Citizens Voice

First half of 2010 the hottest-ever for Planet Earth

NOAA's 2010 map shows warmer-than-average temps in red.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported today that June 2010 was the warmest June on record for the planet, based on records going back to 1880. Combined land and sea temperatures around the planet made it the warmest January to June period on-record, the agency said in it’s monthly climate summary.

The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record at 61.1 degrees, 1.22 degrees  above the 20th century average.

Warmer-than-average conditions dominated the globe, with the most prominent warmth in Peru, the central and eastern contiguous U.S., and eastern and western Asia. Cooler-than-average regions included Scandinavia, southern China and the northwestern contiguous United States.

According to the Beijing Climate Center, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and Jilin had their warmest June since national records began in 1951. Meanwhile, Guizhou experienced its coolest June on record.

More stats:

•    The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for April-June 2010 was 1.26°F (0.70°C) above the 20th century average—the warmest April-June period on record.
•    For the year-to-date, the global combined land and ocean surface temperature of 57.5°F (14.2°C) was the warmest January-June period. This value is 1.22°F (0.68°C) above the 20th century average.
•    Arctic sea ice covered an average of 4.2 million square miles (10.9 million square kilometers) during June. This is 10.6 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent and the lowest June extent since records began in 1979. This was also the 19th consecutive June with below-average Arctic sea ice extent.
•    Antarctic sea ice extent in June was above average, 8.3 percent above the 1979-2000 average—resulting in the largest June extent on record.
•    China had near-average precipitation. Regionally, Guizhou, Fujian and Qinghai had above-average precipitation during June 2010, resulting in the second wettest June since national records began in 1951—according to Beijing Climate Center. Meanwhile, the province of Jiangsu had its driest June on record, while Shanxi had its second driest on record.
•    According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, the continent had its fourth-driest June on record.
•    The first six months of 2010 were the driest since 1929 for the United Kingdom, according to the UK Met Office. The average rainfall during January-June 2010 was 14.3 inches (362.5 mm), just 3.4 inches (86.8 mm) above January-June 1929. The January-June long-term average is 20.1 inches (511.7 mm).

Filed under: Environment, global warming, Summit County Colorado Tagged: | Environment, global warming, June 2010 temperature records, Summit County Colorado, Summit County News