Two major meteorological organizations agree: 2005 was a very warm year, and if it didn't set a new record for high average temperatures, it came very close to doing so.
Last week the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO) based in Geneva, Switzerland, reported that the global mean surface temperature in 2005 is estimated to be 58.06°F (14.48°C). That figure is 0.86°F (0.48°C) warmer than the average between 1961 and 1990.
Although official figures will not be released until next February, 2005 is likely to be one of the hottest four years since record-keeping began in 1861. October and June of this year were the warmest those months have ever been.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also issued a preliminary annual report on weather in 2005, reporting a warmer than average mean temperature for the United States.
Jay Lawrimore, chief of NOAA's Climate Monitoring Branch, thinks that 2005 will be very close to 1998, the warmest year on record for the nation.
"In fact it's likely to only be second warmest according to the data set we are currently using as our operational version," he said. "[But] an improved data set for global analyses currently undergoing final evaluation will likely show 2005 slightly warmer than 1998.
"These results are significant because the 1998 record was established under the influence of an extremely strong El Niño episode."
The El Niño phenomenon is a periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean that influences global weather patterns.
According to Lawrimore, the El Niño event of 2005 was weak and short-lived and had little effect on global temperature. This is what he finds so impressive about 2005's record highs.
"The lack of such a strong influence in 2005 but yet a global temperature very close to that remarkable year of 1998 makes this year's temperature very noteworthy," he said.
Floods and Droughts
The WMO acknowledges that there are gaps in the data record that lend some uncertainty to 2005's ranking. Still, the last ten years, with the exception of 1996, are the warmest years in the record book.
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