NOAA: 2010 Tied for Hottest Year on Record

How many times have you heard that climatologists can’t predict climate because weathermen can’t predict the weather. Plenty if you follow the issue like I do. But just as some prominent climatologists predicted, 2010 was the hottest year on record. That’s what NOAA’s data, the first to come out for the 2010 calendar year, show… (as already covered in December, the 2010 meteorological year was the hottest on record according to NASA.

“It was the 34th-consecutive year that the global temperature was above average, according to the data center,” USA TODAY notes. “The last below-average year was 1976.”

Here’s more on “Global Highlights” from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of the NOAA:

• 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 20^th 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 20^th century average.
• The 2010 Northern Hemisphere combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the warmest year on record, at 0.73°C (1.31°F) above the 20^th century average. The 2010 Southern Hemisphere combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the sixth warmest year on record, at 0.51°C (0.92°F) above the 20^th century average.
• The global land surface temperature for 2010 tied with 2005 as the second warmest on record, at 0.96°C (1.73°F) above the 20^th century average. The warmest such period on record occurred in 2007, at 0.99°C (1.78°F) above the 20^th century average.
• The global ocean surface temperature for 2010 tied with 2005 as the third warmest on record, at 0.49°C (0.88°F) above the 20^th century average.
• In 2010 there was a dramatic shift in the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, which influences temperature and precipitation patterns around the world. A moderate-to-strong El Niño at the beginning of the year transitioned to La Niña conditions by July. At the end of November, La Niña was moderate-to-strong.

The NCDC has much more info in its annual state of the climate global analysis, including info on regional temperatures and on global precipitation and extreme weather events.

h/t Climate Denial Crock of the Week