April was third warmest globally
The climate data report for April 2007 is in from the National Climatic Data Center, and once again it is full of near-superlatives. For example, last month saw:
* The third-warmest global combined land and sea-surface temperatures on record for April.
* Ocean surface temperatures tied for 7th warmest of the last 128 years.
* The second-rainiest day on record in New York City
* The largest wildfire on record in Georgia.
* The 4th warmest April on record for Alaska.
* Billions of dollars in crop losses due to record cold from Texas to Illinois and Florida.
* Continuation of the driest "water year" (July to June) on record for Los Angeles.
* The warmest January-to-April period on record globally.
Finally, the report notes that global surface temperatures continue to rise at a rate of a third of a degree each decade, an accelerated rate that began in the mid-1970s. Want more? Click here.
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Comments
Nice collection of individual data points, but without context, they are meaningless. You note that this was "[t]he third-warmest global combined land and sea-surface temperatures on record for April." However, in 2002, NOAA reported "April [was] the second warmest globally since records began in the late 1800s, according to NOAA scientists" and in 2007, NOAA reported "For Alaska, both February (1.4 degrees F/0.8 degrees C) and winter (1.6 degrees F/0.9 degrees C) were warmer than average but far from the record warmth of 2003 and 2001, respectively." And, "February was 1.8 degrees F (0.9 degrees C) below the 20th century average of 34.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C), placing it in the top third coldest Februarys in the 113-year record for the contiguous U.S. Thirty-six states in the eastern two-thirds of the nation were cooler than average, while Texas and the eleven states of the West were near average to warmer-than-average."
So, it appears that your attempt to scare us about "global warming" is, in fact, evidence of global cooling. Context is everything, is it not?
Posted by: Beau Jolais | May 17, 2007 4:13 PM
I agree. One needs to know and read more to put it in proper perspective. But it was not an attempt to scare, just an effort to skim the surface enough to entice readers to read the report and judge for themselves.
Posted by: frank roylance | May 17, 2007 4:36 PM
BJ, the key word is "global."
The statistics YOU quote regard only the U.S., and even just some individual states.
Just because it was cooler in some places is not proof AGAINST the statement that GLOBALLY it was the third warmest April on record.
Posted by: A Reader | May 18, 2007 7:25 AM