NASA Finds Long-Term Climate Warming Trend   
       
   Jan. 15, 2013:  NASA scientists say 2012 was the ninth warmest of any year   
   since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With   
   the exception of 1998, the nine warmest years in the 132-year record all have   
   occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record.   
       
   NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which monitors   
   global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis, released an updated analysis   
   Tuesday that compares temperatures around the globe in 2012 to the average   
   global temperature from the mid-20th century. The comparison shows how Earth   
   continues to experience warmer temperatures than several decades ago.   
       
   http://tinyurl.com/bc7jbpu   
       
   This color-coded map displays a progression of changing global surface   
   temperatures anomalies from 1880 through 2012. The final frame represents   
   global temperature anomalies averaged from 2008 through 2012. More movies   
   The average temperature in 2012 was about 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit (14.6   
   Celsius), which is 1.0 F (0.6 C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline.   
   The average global temperature has risen about 1.4 degrees F (0.8 C) since   
   1880, according to the new analysis.   
       
   Scientists emphasize that weather patterns always will cause fluctuations in   
   average temperature from year to year, but the continued increase in   
   greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere assures a long-term rise in global   
   temperatures. Each successive year will not necessarily be warmer than the   
   year before, but on the current course of greenhouse gas increases, scientists   
   expect each successive decade to be warmer than the previous decade.   
       
   "One more year of numbers isn't in itself significant," GISS climatologist   
   Gavin Schmidt said. "What matters is this decade is warmer than the last   
   decade, and that decade was warmer than the decade before. The planet is   
   warming. The reason it's warming is because we are pumping increasing amounts   
   of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere."   
       
   Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat and largely controls   
   Earth's climate. It occurs naturally and also is emitted by the burning of   
   fossil fuels for energy. Driven by increasing man-made emissions, the level of   
   carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere has been rising consistently for decades.   
       
   The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285 parts per million in   
   1880, the first year in the GISS temperature record. By 1960, the atmospheric   
   carbon dioxide concentration, measured at NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory, was   
   about 315 parts per million. Today, that measurement exceeds 390 parts per   
   million.   
       
   While the globe experienced relatively warm temperatures in 2012, the   
   continental U.S. endured its warmest year on record by far, according to NOAA,   
   the official keeper of U.S. weather records.   
       
   http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/719354main_NOAA%20NASA%20Climate%20Briefing.pdf   
       
   Temperature data sets collected by NASA and NOAA provide independent   
   confirmation of recent warming trends. [more data]   
       
   "The U.S. temperatures in the summer of 2012 are an example of a new trend of   
   outlying seasonal extremes that are warmer than the hottest seasonal   
   temperatures of the mid-20th century," GISS director James E. Hansen said.   
   "The climate dice are now loaded. Some seasons still will be cooler than the   
   long-term average, but the perceptive person should notice that the frequency   
   of unusually warm extremes is increasing. It is the extremes that have the   
   most impact on people and other life on the planet."   
       
   The temperature analysis produced at GISS is compiled from weather data from   
   more than 1,000 meteorological stations around the world, satellite   
   observations of sea-surface temperature, and Antarctic research station   
   measurements. A publicly available computer program is used to calculate the   
   difference between surface temperature in a given month and the average   
   temperature for the same place during 1951 to 1980. This three-decade period   
   functions as a baseline for the analysis. The last year that experienced   
   cooler temperatures than the 1951 to 1980 average was 1976.   
       
   The GISS temperature record is one of several global temperature analyses,   
   along with those produced by the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United   
   Kingdom and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National   
   Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. These three primary records use   
   slightly different methods, but overall, their trends show close agreement.   
       
    Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
       
   More Information   
   > Goddard Institute for Space Studies GISTEMP Analysis   
   > Science Summary of NASA's 2012 Temperature Analysis (pdf)   
   > NOAA State of the Climate Global Analysis: 2012   
   > Slides for Jan. 15 media teleconference (pdf)   
   > Download related multimedia in broadcast-suitable HD formats   
       
   Text issued as NASA Headquarters release No. 13-021   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.9   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)