February 12, 2007—The year 2006 was the fifth warmest on record for the globe, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) annual climate report. However, NOAA notes that uncertainties in the global calculations due to gaps in data coverage make 2006 statistically indistinguishable from other record warm years, including 2005 and 1998.
According to NOAA, global temperatures have increased at a rate of about a third of a degree Fahrenheit for the past 30 years, a trend they say is consistent with that expected from the continued increases in global greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, the average temperature for 2006 in the contiguous US was the warmest on record, although nearly equal to the earlier record, set in 1998. According to NOAA, the past nine years in the US have all been among the 25 hottest years on record, a hot streak that is unprecedented in the historical record.
With an El Niño event currently causing elevated sea surface temperatures in much of the Pacific Ocean, the UK’s leading meteorological organization is already predicting that 2007 will be the warmest year on record for the globe.
According to the Met Office, global surface temperatures take a while to respond to the heating effect of El Niño events, so the current event is likely to elevate global temperatures for much of the year. The Met Office also noted that 2006 was the hottest year on record for the UK, and that the past five years were the five hottest years on record for the UK.
