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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Climate: New study of paleoclimate record confirms warming

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Data from coral, caves and sediment layers reflects temperature increases measured by surface instruments

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — A team of federal and university scientists say they’ve compiled a set of temperature records from ice cores, old corals, and lake sediment layers that closely matches the pattern of global warming from 1880 to 1995 recorded by thermometers.

The paleoclimate record also confirms that warming accelerated between 1980 and 1995 compared to the long-term trend, starting in 1880. The record also reflects small-scale features within the long-term trend, including a 1940s warm interval recorded by thermometers.

This finding, reported by a team of researchers from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, the University of South Carolina, the University of Colorado, and the University of Bern in Switzerland, resolves some of the uncertainty associated with thermometer records, which can be affected by land use changes, shifts in station locations, variations in instrumentation, and more. (more…)

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Climate: November 2012 5th-warmest for Planet Earth

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

During the September to November period, record highs were reported from both hemisphere, with no record cold temperatures reported anywhere

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Red is above average — any questions? Map courtesy NCDC.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Even without an El Niño, the globally average land and sea surface temperature was the fifth-highest on record, at 1.21 degrees above the average since record-keeping started in 1880.

Global November temperatures have been above average for 36 years in a row, and the 333d month in a row with a global temperature above the 20th century average, according to the National Climatic Data Center, which released its monthly summary today. (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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Climate: Despite cool October, 2012 still hottest ever in U.S.

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

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Drought persists across 62 percent of the country

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — A 16-month string of above-average temperatures in the U.S. ended in October, as repeated surges of cold air dropping into the heartland kept readings below average for the first time since May 2011, at the end of a chilly La Niña winter.

The National Climatic Data Center reported this week that the average temperature across the contiguous U.S. during October was 53.9 degrees, just 0.3 degrees below the long-term average. Even with the October dip, 2012 is still on track to be the warmest year ever in the contiguous U.S. states.

At an average national temperature of 58.4 degrees, the January to October reading is still 3.4 degrees above average and 1.1 degrees warmer than the previous year–to-date record, set in 2000.

During the first 10-months of 2012, 21 states reported record warmth with an additional 25 states reporting readings among their all-time 10 warmest. Only Washington had a statewide temperature near average for the period. (more…)

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Climate: September 2012 ties 2005 as warmest ever

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

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2012 likely to be warmest La Niña year on record

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — You know something is up when the incessant shrieks from global warming deniers get louder than ever. Last week’s refrain was, “global warming ended 16 years ago,” based on  incomplete and cherry picked data from the UK.

Instead, the official numbers just released by the National Climatic Data Center show that Sept. 2012 tied 2005 for the warmest global September on record since 2005, despite the fact that the U.S. (only a small percentage of the globe) didn’t come close to setting a record average high temperature. Read the full report here. (more…)

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U.S. heat eases slightly in September, but 2012 still the warmest year on record to-date

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Near-record heat prevailed across the West, with a small patch of cooler-than-average temperatures in the Midwest.

Heat wave shifts west, with much of the eastern U.S. reporting near average temps for the month

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — A brutal summer-long North American heat wave eased up last month, but the monthly temperature was still 1.4 degrees above the long-term average, making it the 23d warmest September on record, and the 16th month in a row with above-average readings in the contiguous 48 states.

The month also brought record and near-record dry conditions to the Northern Plains and Northwest, according to the National Climatic Data Center’s monthly update. Hot readings shifted west, with multiple states states from California through the interior West reporting September readings among the top-warmest on record, including Nevada (third-warmest) and Utah (ninth-warmest). (more…)

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Volunteers wanted to help with hurricane research

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Hurricane Gilbert, courtesy NOAA.

New website enables public to help assess tropical storm intensity

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — When it comes to assessing hurricane intensity, the more eyeballs the better, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is asking the public to browse an archive of historic satellite images to help scientists develop more accurate intensity estimates.

The method for determining the strength of tropical cyclones has been applied differently around the world and has changed over time. That inconsistency has led to uncertainties in the global historical record of tropical cyclone activity, especially in parts of the world where additional data sources such as aircraft reconnaissance are not available. After many people review the same image, scientists will then use that feedback to come up with new estimates of a cyclone’s intensity.

The National Climatic Data Center launched the new website, CycloneCenter.org, this weekend. The site enables volunteers to examine color-enhanced images from 30 years of tropical cyclones taken from the archives of NCDC’s Hurricane Satellite Data system. Then, the site guides users through a process to analyze a specific hurricane image and answer questions, using a simplified technique for estimating the maximum surface wind speed of tropical cyclones. (more…)

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Summit Voice: Weekend headlines & most-viewed stories

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Climate costs, ski area expansions and poaching

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Study challenges pesticide link with bee colony collapse

Honeybees may be dying from ingesting remnants of insecticides, but that in itself may nor be causing the widespread colony collapse being observed in many areas, according to new research published in the journal Science.

Study: Many nuclear power plants in tsunami risk zones

The Fukushima disaster might not be the last time a tsunami damages a nuclear facility, according to a team of Spanish researchers who there are a total of 23 nuclear power plants at various stages of operation or construction in high-risk areas.

Colorado biologists planning statewide lynx assessment

Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists say they’re close to finalizing a plan to monitor the state’s lynx population by assessing habitat occupancy. If successful, the strategy would enable researchers to determine whether the population of endangered wild cats is sustaining itself over time.

Climate: Ice-free Arctic ahead?

SUMMIT COUNTY — Despite a steady trend of melting Arctic sea ice, experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aren’t yet willing to make any predictions as to when the region will be completely ice-free during the summers.

Colorado: Elk poacher hit with $11,500 fine

SUMMIT COUNTY — A West Virginia man will pay an $11,500 fine for poaching Colorado wildlife. The fine includes a $10,000 penalty that applies when trophy-quality wildlife is poached — in this case a 6×6 bull elk taken on Devil’s Thumb Ranch property in Tabernash earlier this month.

World Tourism Day focuses on sustainable energy

SUMMIT COUNTY — In an era when reducing greenhouse gas emissions has been targeted as a critical priority, it’s more challenging than ever to reconcile tourism with environmental concerns.

Climate: El Niño stalls, outlook uncertain

SUMMIT COUNTY — This year’s El Niño is likely to be one of the weaker versions of the event in recent memory, according to experts with the National Climatic Data Center, who discussed the fall outlook and reviewed the long, hot summer at teleconference last week.

Global tourist visits on track to pass 1-billion mark

FRISCO — Travelers from some of the world’s biggest countries helped spur global tourism to a new record level during the first half of 2012, keeping the industry on track to pass the 1-billion mark for the first time this year.

Most-viewed stories

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Climate: El Niño stalls, outlook uncertain

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Above-average temperatures to persist across much of the country

Sea surface temperature anomalies as of Sept. 20. Graphic courtesy NOAA.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — This year’s El Niño is likely to be one of the weaker versions of the event in recent memory, according to experts with the National Climatic Data Center, who discussed the fall outlook and reviewed the long, hot summer at teleconference last week.

That could weaken potential impacts, particularly across the southern tier of states, where an “average” El Niño often brings above-average precipitation.This could be especially important for states like New Mexico, which just experienced its driest and warmest 24-month period on record, and farther east, where Oklahoma was also parched during a record-hot summer.

During an El Niño, sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific surge to above average, often shifting the storm track to the south. It’s part of a cyclical shift in sea surface temperatures and related wind patterns that can affect weather patterns worldwide.

Sea surface temps have hovered at slightly above average the past few months in the region where El Niño formation is measured, but haven’t reached the formal threshold yet. An area of cooler water in the north Pacific may be a factor.

The North Pacific is not cooperating … there’s a cold area near Alaska. It’s not quite a perfect setup for a warm event in the tropics,” said NOAA scientist Huug van den Dool.

“It’s probably too late to get a major El Nino … it’s going to be somewhat weaker than we expected a few months ago,” he said, explaining that there’s still a chance for enhanced precipitation across the South. An average El Niño footprint would normally also result in below-average precipitation in the northern tier of states.

A map from the National Climatic Data Center shows where the summer heat wave was centered. Click on the graphic to visit the NCDC online.

El Niño or not, the Climate Prediction Center says there’s a good chance the next three months will bring mostly above average temperatures to a big swath of the country, from the eastern edge of the Great Basin through the central and northern plains, up into the Great Lakes region and New England.

The three-month precipitation outlook is for near-normal total for much of the country, with a chance of above-normal rainfall in the southeast, and drier-than-normal conditions in the Pacific Northwest.

Looking back, Jake Crouch, of the NCDC, said it was the third-warmest summer on record for the U.S. and second-warmest summer for the northern hemisphere. A total of 33 states reported their warmest year to-date on record.

The year to-date is the ninth-warmest on record globally.

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