It wasn't just the USA that sizzled to one of its warmest summers ever - the entire Northern Hemisphere also sweltered
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Sep 15, 2011, 10:56:50 PM9/15/11
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Times and Climate Change
It wasn't just the USA that sizzled to one of its warmest summers ever - the entire Northern Hemisphere also sweltered
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
It wasn't just the USA that sizzled to one of its warmest summers ever - the entire Northern Hemisphere also sweltered through its fifth-warmest summer since records began 132 years ago, federal scientists at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., reported Thursday.
This was the 26th consecutive above-average Northern Hemisphere summer, according to the data center.
Climatologists define summer as the months of June, July and August. The climate center is a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The unusual warmth also affected the Arctic, where the region's sea ice shriveled to its second-lowest extent on record, the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., announced on Thursday.
"The minimum ice extent was the second lowest in the satellite record, after 2007, and continues the decadal trend of rapidly decreasing summer sea ice," the center reported in an online report.
"This is not just a random event," said James Overland, a NOAA oceanographer, at a teleconference on Thursday. "This is a long-term change in the Arctic climate."
Fall season no relief for Texas
No relief is in sight this fall for scorched, bone-dry Texas, which just endured its hottest summer on record.
In its forecast for the months of October, November and December released Thursday, the Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md., reported that a continuation of hot, dry weather is expected throughout most of the southern tier of the USA. This is due in part to the return of La Nina, a climate pattern that usually favors dry autumns and winters in the southern USA, according to forecaster Ed O'Lenic of the climate center.
The drought and warmth will continue to exacerbate wildfire condtions in Texas this fall, reports Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, who added that it also will affect winter and spring agriculture as well as water supplies across the state next spring.
The only part of the USA that should see a rainier fall than usual is the Pacific Northwest, particularly western Oregon and Washington. And the only cooler-than-average spot the next three months is forecast to be southern Florida.
—Doyle Rice
Satellite measurements of Arctic sea ice began in 1979, although partial data goes back at least to the 1930s, according to research scientist Walter Meier of the snow and ice data center.
Across the globe, warmer-than-average conditions were recorded this summer in Mexico, the eastern two-thirds of the USA and Canada, along with most of Europe and Asia.
Finland had its fourth-warmest summer since records began in the early 1900s, the climate center noted.
The warmth across the northern latitudes this summer was due in part to the lack of Arctic ice, reports climate scientist Jake Crouch of the climate data center. "The open water absorbs more energy from the sun, allowing the land areas to warm," he said.
Also, he said that La Niña, which cools the surface of the eastern Pacific Ocean, tends to cause some land areas to warm, including parts of Asia.
Some spots were cooler-than-average this summer, including the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Great Britain and parts of western Russia.
The winter in the Southern Hemisphere was also warmer-than-average, marking the 43rd consecutive above-average winter south of the equator.
Federal climate scientists last week announced that the USA experienced its 2nd-warmest summer on record, trailing only 1936.
Contributing: The Associated Press
It wasn't just the USA that sizzled to one of its warmest summers ever - the entire Northern Hemisphere also sweltered
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
It wasn't just the USA that sizzled to one of its warmest summers ever - the entire Northern Hemisphere also sweltered through its fifth-warmest summer since records began 132 years ago, federal scientists at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., reported Thursday.
This was the 26th consecutive above-average Northern Hemisphere summer, according to the data center.
Climatologists define summer as the months of June, July and August. The climate center is a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The unusual warmth also affected the Arctic, where the region's sea ice shriveled to its second-lowest extent on record, the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., announced on Thursday.
"The minimum ice extent was the second lowest in the satellite record, after 2007, and continues the decadal trend of rapidly decreasing summer sea ice," the center reported in an online report.
"This is not just a random event," said James Overland, a NOAA oceanographer, at a teleconference on Thursday. "This is a long-term change in the Arctic climate."
Fall season no relief for Texas
No relief is in sight this fall for scorched, bone-dry Texas, which just endured its hottest summer on record.
In its forecast for the months of October, November and December released Thursday, the Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md., reported that a continuation of hot, dry weather is expected throughout most of the southern tier of the USA. This is due in part to the return of La Nina, a climate pattern that usually favors dry autumns and winters in the southern USA, according to forecaster Ed O'Lenic of the climate center.
The drought and warmth will continue to exacerbate wildfire condtions in Texas this fall, reports Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, who added that it also will affect winter and spring agriculture as well as water supplies across the state next spring.
The only part of the USA that should see a rainier fall than usual is the Pacific Northwest, particularly western Oregon and Washington. And the only cooler-than-average spot the next three months is forecast to be southern Florida.
—Doyle Rice
Satellite measurements of Arctic sea ice began in 1979, although partial data goes back at least to the 1930s, according to research scientist Walter Meier of the snow and ice data center.
Across the globe, warmer-than-average conditions were recorded this summer in Mexico, the eastern two-thirds of the USA and Canada, along with most of Europe and Asia.
Finland had its fourth-warmest summer since records began in the early 1900s, the climate center noted.
The warmth across the northern latitudes this summer was due in part to the lack of Arctic ice, reports climate scientist Jake Crouch of the climate data center. "The open water absorbs more energy from the sun, allowing the land areas to warm," he said.
Also, he said that La Niña, which cools the surface of the eastern Pacific Ocean, tends to cause some land areas to warm, including parts of Asia.
Some spots were cooler-than-average this summer, including the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Great Britain and parts of western Russia.
The winter in the Southern Hemisphere was also warmer-than-average, marking the 43rd consecutive above-average winter south of the equator.
Federal climate scientists last week announced that the USA experienced its 2nd-warmest summer on record, trailing only 1936.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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