2012—Third Warmest La Niña Year on Record*
Featured Image January 15, 2013
After running the numbers for 2012, NOAA reported that the global average temperature in 2012 was 1.03° Fahrenheit above average, ranking it as the 10th warmest year since record keeping began in 1880. Although 2012 warmth did not top the charts, it was unusual in another way: it was the warmest “La Niña year” on record.
By a wide margin, 2012 was the United States’ warmest year on record
January 8, 2013 Adapted by Susan Osborne and Jake Crouch from the December 2012 National Climate Update NCDC
The past year included the nation’s fourth-warmest winter, a record-warm spring, the second-warmest summer, and a warmer-than-average autumn. Average annual temperature was 3.2° F warmer than the 20th-century average and 1.0°F warmer than the previous record.
November 2012 Global Temperature Update
December 17, 2012 Jessica Blunden, Susan Osborne
The average global temperature for November 2012 was the fifth warmest November since record keeping began in 1880. It also marked the 36th consecutive November and 333rd consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th-century average.
November 2012 U.S. climate update: word of the month is “dry”
December 6, 2012 Adapted by Susan Osborne and Jake Crouch from the September 2012 National Climate Report from the NCDC
November precipitation was nearly an inch below the long-term average in the U.S., making this the eighth-driest November on record. Not surprisingly, drought expanded and worsened as a result.
High-latitude growing season getting longer
December 5, 2012 Rebecca Lindsey
Few real-world signs of climate change are easier to read than changes in the growing season of familiar vegetation. Most of the high-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing longer growing seasons now than they did more than two and half decades ago.
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Extreme Events of 2012: Global to Local Responses
The entire Northern Hemisphere was warm during 2012. Drought affected agricultural regions in North America, Europe, eastern Russia, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. These warm conditions impacted grain yields, water supplies, and heat-related illness. Global food prices rose by 10 percent during July. Learning how our neighbors around the world cope with and adapt to extreme events can help us make better decisions, become more resilient, and be “climate smart.”
Drought, cold, and massive storms were among the devastating climate-related events that struck the United States in 2012. These events were incredibly destructive and disruptive for people across the country. A better understanding of the relationship between climate and extreme weather is challenging, but it’s important, and it will help our nation become even more “climate smart.”
The Pushy Pacific: Variability and Change in Global Temperature
When the Pacific Ocean warms and cools with El Niño and La Niña, global temperatures rise and fall. Because there was a La Niña event in the early part of this year, the global surface temperature for 2012 won’t break the high temperature record. However, the odds are that this will be the warmest of the La Niña years in the global climate record.
In Watching for El Niño and La Niña, NOAA Adapts to Global Warming
February 5, 2013 Rebecca Lindsey
As the whole ocean gets warmer, NOAA scientists must redefine what they consider “average” temperature in the central tropical Pacific, where they keep watch for El Niño and La Niña.
Drought Impacts Continue to Pile Up
February 4, 2013 Rebecca Lindsey
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, an estimated 58 percent of the contiguous United States was in some level of drought as of January 29, with an additional 12 percent in the “Abnormally dry” category.
