Tag Archives: noaa

NOAA, NASA & UAH Agree: 2010 tied for hottest year on record [UPDATED]

Temperature anomaly chart; as you can see, despite being the warmest year on record, there are still a few areas that experienced colder than average temperatures; but those areas are dwarfed by the areas experiencing temperature anomalies above average. This despite deepest solar minimum in a century (via ClimateProgress) [ and more on sunspots].  So, yes, it’s cold in Topeka, but it’s mighty warm most other places, especially northern Canada:

Here are precipitation anomalies globally for 2010:

Below is a closeup of just Australia; where you can see that we can see record highs and lows for rainfall; precipitation is part of the climate that changes with global warming.  The strong La Nina weather system is to blame, but warmer oceans mean more evaporation and, thus, more rainfall: “The waters off Australia are the warmest ever measured and those waters provide moisture to the atmosphere for the Queensland and northern Australia monsoon.”

So above, the data and reality very clearly disproves the denier propaganda that ‘it’s the sunspots.’ Here’s a chart for the deniers who say it’s been getting colder for the past decade; this chart is from Dr. Roy Spencer, a darling of the denier crowd:

As you see, not only was December 2010 above average, despite the thousands of shrieks by deniers on this site that ‘it’s snowing in Topeka, global warming is a hoax!”

But even Dr. Roy Spencer must reluctantly concede that 2010 was the warmest in his 43 years of satellite data:

As far as the race for warmest year goes, 1998 (+0.424 deg. C) barely edged out 2010 (+0.411 deg. C), but the difference (0.01 deg. C) is nowhere near statistically significant. So feel free to use or misuse those statistics to your heart’s content.

[UPDATED] Last June, NOAA scientist warned of cold & snowy winters to come as global warming alters air pressure system over Arctic

More cold and snowy winters to come said Dr. James Overland at the International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference (IPY-OSC) in June 2010.

Cold and snowy winters will be the rule, rather than the exception,” says Dr James Overland of the NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in the United States. Dr Overland is at the International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference (IPY-OSC) to chair a session on polar climate feedbacks, amplification and teleconnections, including impacts on mid-latitudes.

“While the emerging impact of greenhouse gases is an important factor in the changing Arctic, what was not fully recognised until now is that a combination of an unusual warm period due to natural variability, loss of sea ice reflectivity, ocean heat storage and changing wind patterns working together has disrupted the memory and stability of the Arctic climate system, resulting in greater ice loss than earlier climate models predicted,” says Dr Overland.

“The exceptional cold and snowy winter of 2009-2010 in Europe, eastern Asia and eastern North America is connected to unique physical processes in the Arctic,” he says.

Yesterday, in comments, I told @ROVSKI that I assumed this high pressure system over Arctic was just a one off weather event. I wasn’t aware that polar scientists were suggesting it could be a more permanent feature. Dr. Overland presented this to 2400 other polar scientists. I will look for any responses to his presentation.

UPDATE – Colorado River Basin in the midst of driest 11 years in historical record, possibly driest in 1000 years

As I speak to you today, the Colorado River is facing a record drought. The period between 2000 to 2010 has been the driest 11-year period in the 102-year historical record for the Colorado River Basin. Moreover, scientists who examined tree-ring data estimate that this period is one of the driest in the Basin in over 1,000 years.

And there are no clear signs of an end to this drought. The countless communities that rely on the river to sustain them are being forced to make tough choices at a time with few obvious solutions in sight.

Moreover, as we enter our second decade of drought conditions, another reality complicates the picture: climate change and its emerging challenges—challenges that we are only just beginning to understand– may dwarf in complexity the issues that the Basin States have faced so far. Some estimates have identified a risk of a 20-30 percent decline in available water supplies in this Basin due to climate change.

Again, I know this is complicated, but some areas will become unusually dry, while others will become unusually wet.

You mean the White House lied to protect a corporation?!? Three quarters of oil still in Gulf of Mexico

Stacy Summary:  It seems the penalties for lying to Congress is still enough to force people to tell the truth.

**UPDATE / REMINDER**

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 47 > § 1001
§ 1001. Statements or entries generally
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.