Climate: 2012 ends up as 10th-warmest year on record

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Warmest La Niña year ever for planet Earth

Large parts of northern hemisphere land areas were cooler than average in December, but most of the southern hemisphere reported above-average readings. Graphic courtesy NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

Large parts of northern hemisphere land areas were cooler than average in December, but most of the southern hemisphere reported above-average readings. Graphic courtesy NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.

FRISCO — Despite a significant cool-down in December, 2012 ended up as the 10th-warmest year on record for the planet, at 1.03 degrees above the 20th century average.

2012 will also go down as the warmest-ever La Niña year, and marks the 26th consecutive year with temps running above the 20th century average. The last time the annual average temperature was below the 20th century average was in 1976, according to the National Climatic Data Center’s global state of the climate report.

Most of North and South America, along with Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia reported well above-average temperatures for the year. Below average readings were reported from Alaska and far western Canada, central Asia, parts of the eastern and equatorial Pacific, southern Atlantic, and parts of the Southern Ocean. Including 2012, the first 12 years of the 21st century all rank among the 14 warmest in the 133-year period of record. (more…)

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Where will 2012 end up in the annals of global warming?

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

UK temps a hair below average, Australia warmer than normal

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For 2012 to-date, nearly the entire planet saw above average temperatures.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — While the U.S. is likely be report one of the warmest years ever recorded in 2012, not every country saw record-warmth this year.

The National Climatic Data Center will release the December 2012 and year-end temperature data this week, but several other countries have already released readings, including the UK, which saw a mean annual temperature 0.1 degrees Celsius below the 1981 to 2010 average.

Only 2 years (2010 and 2012) of the last 16 have had annual temperatures below the average. March was the 3rd warmest on record for the UK. The summer was a little warmer than 2011, but otherwise the coolest  since 1998, and it was the coolest autumn since 1993.

The UK Met Office described 2012 as a year of dramatic contrasts, warm and mild the first three months, followed by a shift to exceptionally wet weather from late spring through the summer. (more…)

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Climate: October 2012 ties for the 5th-warmest on record

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Year-to-date the 8th-warmest for Planet Earth

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By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Much of Europe, North Africa and South America reported warmer than average temperatures in October, while parts of North America and central Asia were cooler than average.

Taken all together, the average global October temperature was tied with 2008 as the fifth-warmest on record, 1.13 degrees above average, based on data going back to 1880, according to the latest monthly update released this week by the National Climatic Data Center.

Land surface temperatures were the eighth-warmest on record, while sea surface temps tied with 2004 as the fourth-warmest. For the year to-date, 2012 is the eighth-warmest on record, at 1.04 degrees above the 20th century average, and marks 332 months in a row with temps above the historical average. (more…)

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