Dec 30, 2010

2010 on track to be Earth's warmest year on record

12:36 PM

National Climatic Data Center2010 is on track to be the Earth's warmest year since record-keeping began in 1880, according to the National Climatic Data Center. From January-November, the Earth's temperature was 1.15 degrees F above the 20th-century average and .03 degrees above the previous warmest year, 2005.

Data for the entire year will be available on or about Jan. 14.

This will be the 34th consecutive year that the global temperature will be above average, according to the data center. The last below-average year was 1976.

Warmer-than-average temperatures occurred from January–November for most of the world's surface (see map, above). The warmest 11-month above-average temperatures occurred throughout the high-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere, Canada, Alaska, the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and northern Africa.

Temperatures were notably cooler across the southern oceans, most of the eastern Pacific Ocean, western Scandinavia, parts of central Russia, and parts of Australia.

According to Environment Canada, 2010 set a record as the warmest January–November period for the country, at 5.2 degrees F above normal.

Global precipitation for the period January–November was also well above average, ranking 4th-wettest on record since 1900.

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