November 2013 Global Temperature Was Hottest On Record
November 2013 Global Temperature Was Hottest On Record
Terrell Johnson and Nick Wiltgen Published: Dec 17, 2013, 11:57 AM EST weather.com
http://s.imwx.com/dru/2013/12/5390b3...6e_650x366.jpgLand and sea surface temperature anomalies for November 2013. Gray shades indicate areas with insufficient data for an analysis. (Source: NOAA/NCDC)
Last month was the warmest November since modern temperature record keeping began in 1880, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today in its latest State of the Climate report, which summarizes climate-related news from around the world.
With a combined land and ocean surface temperature of 56.6 degrees Fahrenheit, November 2013 also was the 345th consecutive month – and the 37th November in a row – with a global temperature higher than the 20th century average, the NOAA report added.
Higher-than-average monthly temperatures were reported on nearly every continent around the world, including much of Europe and Asia, coastal Africa, Central America and central South America, as well as in the North Atlantic Ocean, southwest Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
Russia experienced its warmest November since national weather records began in 1891, as some parts of the country like Siberia and the Arctic islands in the Kara Sea recorded temperatures more than 14 Fahrenheit degrees higher than the monthly average.
At the same time, cooler-than-average temperatures were reported in parts of North America – especially in the southeastern U.S. – as well as in northern Australia and southwest Greenland. No record cold monthly temperatures were reported.
On land, the global temperature in November was the second-highest on record for the month (after November 2010), at 2.57 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average. For the oceans, November's sea surface temperature was 0.94 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average, tying 2009 as the third-highest for November.
Snow cover across the Northern Hemisphere reached its largest extent for November since 2002, and was about 710,000 square miles larger than the 1981-2010 average of just over 6.8 million square miles.
Read the full story at NOAA's State of the Climate.
MORE: Alaska's Shrinking Glaciers / 47
Muir Glacier and Inlet (1895)
http://s.imwx.com/dru/2013/11/f68943...90_650x366.jpg
In the photo above, the west shoreline of Muir Inlet in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve is shown as it appeared in 1895. Notice the lack of vegetation on the slopes of the mountains, and the glacier that stands more than 300 feet high. See the glacier as it looked in 2005 on the next page. (USGS/Bruce Molnia)
http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/november-2013-global-temperature-was-hottest-record-20131217
