The state of the climate report
This will probably be the last blog post for a few weeks, as the Ice Blogger is looking forward to a long, relaxing holiday. Let me draw your attention to the “monthly global state of the climate reports” published by the National Climatic Data Center of NOAA.
It seems slightly bizarre to see some of the anomalies and records there for September described as “Global Highlights”, but assuming we mean highlights in terms of particularly striking events as opposed to features to rejoice about, let me give you a few for September from the NCDC report:
The average combined global land and ocean surface temperature for September 2012 tied with 2005 as the warmest September on record, at 0.67°C (1.21°F) above the 20th century average of 15.0°C (59.0°F). Records began in 1880.
The globally-averaged land surface temperature for September 2012 was the third warmest September on record, at 1.02°C (1.84°F) above average. The globally-averaged ocean surface temperature tied with 1997 as the second warmest September on record, at 0.54°C (0.97°F) above average.
The average combined global land and ocean surface temperature for January–September 2012 was the eighth warmest such period on record, at 0.57°C (1.03°F) above the 20th century average.
In case you are looking for some more interesting polar reading over the next few weeks, there are some links below. Meanwhile, DW will keep you up to date on the environment page, and please don’t forget to listen in to Living Planet.
Happy reading and listening!
- Ice blogger sheltering from the wind on a summer expedition to Greenland
Are warming seas changing the Antarctic ice?
