Environment & Energy
Related: About this forum(NOAA) Global (temperature) Analysis - April 2016
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201604Global Analysis - April 2016
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The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for April 2016 was 1.10°C (1.98°F) above the 20th century average of 13.7°C (56.7°F)the highest temperature departure for April since global records began in 1880. This value surpassed the previous record set in 2010 by 0.28°C (0.50°F). This was also the fourth highest monthly temperature departure among all 1,636 months on record, behind March 2016 (1.23°C/2.21°F), February 2016 (1.19°C/2.14°F), and December 2015 (1.12°C/2.02°F). Overall, 13 out of the 15 highest monthly temperature departures in the record have all occurred since February 2015, with February 1998 and January 2007 among the 15 highest monthly temperature departures. April 2016 also marks the fifth consecutive month (since December 2015) that the global monthly temperature departure from average has surpassed 1.0°C (1.8°F) and it is the 12th consecutive month a monthly global temperature record has been broken, the longest such streak in NOAA's 137 years of record keeping.
April 2016 was characterized by warmer to much warmer-than-average conditions across most of Earth's land surfaces, according to the Land & Ocean Temperature Percentiles map above. The most notable warm temperature departures were observed across much of Russia and Alaska, where temperatures were 3.0°C (5.4°F) or greater above average. Record warmth was notable across northern and central South America and parts of southern Europe, western and central Africa, southeastern Asia, eastern Australia, southern Alaska, and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, northeastern Canada and southern South America were cooler than average, with the most notable cool temperature departures across northeastern Canada (as low as -5°C / -9°F below average). According to NCEI's Global Regional analysis, all six continents had at least a top nine warm April, with South America, Africa, and Asia observing a record high average temperature for April.
Overall, the average global temperature across land surfaces for April 2016 was 1.93°C (3.47°F) above the 20th century average of 8.1°C (46.5°F), the highest April temperature on record, surpassing the previous April record set in 2007 by 0.42°C (0.77°F) and the third highest monthly temperature departure on record (18802016), behind March 2016 (2.38°C/4.28°F) and February 2016 (2.28°C/4.11°F).
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The April globally averaged sea surface temperature was 0.80°C (1.44°F) above the 20th century monthly average. This was the highest global ocean temperature for April in the 18802016 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2015 by 0.14°C (0.25°F) and besting 1998, the last time a similar strength El Niño occurred, by 0.24°C (0.43°F). April 2016 tied with February 2016 as the seventh highest departure from average among all 1,636 months in the record.
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OnlinePoker
(5,729 posts)The next ice age may have already begun, its beginnings temporarily masked by El Niño
Earths 2015 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880, according to an analysis released by NASA earlier this year. Globally-averaged temperatures in 2015 shattered the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius). Only once before, in 1998, has the new record been greater than the old record by this much.
Other agencies, ones that measure temperatures in the atmosphere rather than on Earths surface, also found 2015 to be a warm year, although not a record-breaker. Either way, 2015 could have historical significance, according to findings by many scientists. It could mark the year that global temperatures started hurtling downward, setting Earth on a prolonged period of global cooling.
http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/lawrence-solomon-why-it-looks-like-game-over-for-global-warming