NOAA: 2010 tied as warmest year on record (Update: NASA Agrees)
The NCDC Global Analysis of surface temperatures is out for the calendar year 2010:
For 2010, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature tied with 2005 as the warmest such period on record, at 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F). 1998 is the third warmest year-to-date on record, at 0.60°C (1.08°F) above the 20th century average.
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The NCDC analysis of one of three usually referenced (the others being NASA GISS and the UK MET sponsored effort.) The GISS analysis should be out shortly. As I have written several times, just to be clear, these agencies take surface temperature reading from a variety of sources and each have their own algorithm for weighting sparsely measured areas of the globe (such as parts of the ocean surfaces or the poles), so they vary slightly in the numbers computed for a global average. The UK algorithm in particular is noted for its under-weighting of arctic temperatures.
Nevertheless, I think it is clear that these surface analyses, especially when combined with the space measured temps of the atmosphere, show that the “global cooling” meme was just a lie propagated by vested political interests.
UPDATE:
NASA GISS report likewise that calendar 2010 tied calendar 2005 as the warmest on record:
Global surface temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to an analysis released Wednesday by researchers at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.
The two years differed by less than 0.018 degrees Fahrenheit. The difference is smaller than the uncertainty in comparing the temperatures of recent years, putting them into a statistical tie. In the new analysis, the next warmest years are 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009, which are statistically tied for third warmest year. The GISS records begin in 1880.
The analysis found 2010 approximately 1.34°F warmer than the average global surface temperature from 1951 to 1980. To measure climate change, scientists look at long-term trends. The temperature trend, including data from 2010, shows the climate has warmed by approximately 0.36°F per decade since the late 1970s.
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The record temperature in 2010 is particularly noteworthy, because the last half of the year was marked by a transition to strong La Niña conditions, which bring cool sea surface temperatures to the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
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