The globe recorded the 10th warmest year on record.
Updated: January 15, 2013
Posted: 6:16 PM 1/15/13
We've added another warm year to the record books. 2012 was the warmest year since records began in 1880, a full degree above the average for the 20th century. The majority of the globe had warmer than normal temperatures, especially across the United States and more specifically the Midwest.
This is the 36th consecutive year with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last time we had a colder than average year was 1976. Since 1880, the global average temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.11 degrees F per decade and 0.28 per decade since 1970.
Check out our weather vault for more information on 2012 from a local, state, national, and global perspective.
You can get more on the state of our climate in this report from NOAA.
