NASA Finds 2011 Ninth-Warmest Year on Record.

Wokkonno

Wokkonno XP
Jul 15, 2011
82
1
The global average surface temperature in 2011
was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA
scientists.

The finding continues a trend in which nine of the 10 warmest
years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since
the year 2000.

NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York
which monitors global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis
released an updated analysis that shows temperatures around
the globe in 2011 compared to the average global temperature
from the mid-20th century.

The comparison shows how Earth continues to experience
warmer temperatures than several decades ago.

The average temperature around the globe in 2011 was 0.92
degrees F (0.51 C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline.

"We know the planet is absorbing more energy than it is emitting "
said GISS Director James E. Hansen. "So we are continuing to see
a trend toward higher temperatures. Even with the cooling effects
of a strong La Niña influence and low solar activity for the past
several years, 2011 was one of the 10 warmest years on record."

The difference between 2011 and the warmest year in the GISS
record (2010) is 0.22 degrees F (0.12 C). This underscores the
emphasis scientists put on the long-term trend of global temperature
rise. Because of the large natural variability of climate, scientists do
not expect temperatures to rise consistently year after year.

However, they do expect a continuing temperature rise over decades.

The first 11 years of the 21st century experienced notably
higher temperatures compared to the middle and late 20th
century, Hansen said. The only year from the 20th century
in the top 10 warmest years on record is 1998.

617018main_global-temps-2011-708px.jpg


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Higher temperatures today are largely sustained by increased
atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, especially
carbon dioxide. These gases absorb infrared radiation emitted
by Earth and release that energy into the atmosphere rather
than allowing it to escape to space. As their atmospheric
concentration has increased, the amount of energy "trapped"
by these gases has led to higher temperatures.

While average global temperature will still fluctuate from year
to year, scientists focus on the decadal trend. Nine of the
10 warmest years since 1880 have occurred since the year
2000, as the Earth has experienced sustained higher
temperatures than in any decade during the 20th century.

As greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric carbon dioxide
levels continue to rise, scientists expect the long-term
temperature increase to continue as well.

The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285
parts per million in 1880, when the GISS global temperature
record begins. By 1960, the average concentration had risen
to about 315 parts per million.

Today it exceeds 390 parts per million and continues to rise
at an accelerating pace.

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 resulting temperature record is very close to analyses
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.

Hansen said he expects record-breaking global average
temperature in the next two to three years because solar
activity is on the upswing and the next El Niño will increase
tropical Pacific temperatures. The warmest years on record
were 2005 and 2010, in a virtual tie.

"It's always dangerous to make predictions about El Niño
but it's safe to say we'll see one in the next three years
" Hansen said. "It won't take a very strong El Niño to
push temperatures above 2010."​

Sources: NASA
 

mrjack5555

New Member
Apr 13, 2009
14
4
yeah when you shut down 1/3 of the monitoring stations its easier to manipulate the data. or another way to put it is, there's no money in a cancer cure only in finding it...