Global Temperature Trend Update—September, 2010
Every month University of Alabama in Huntsville climatologists John Christy and Roy Spencer report the latest global temperature trends from satellite data. Below are the newest data updated through August, 2010.
August 2010 slips (barely) in as second hottest August
Global climate trend since Nov. 16, 1978: +0.14 C per decade
August temperatures (preliminary)
Global composite temp.: +0.51 C (about 0.92 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for August.
Northern Hemisphere: +0.67 C (about 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for August.
Southern Hemisphere: +0.35 C (about 0.63 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for August.
Tropics: +0.36 C (about 0.65 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for August.
July temperatures (revised):
Global Composite: +0.49 C above 20-year average
Northern Hemisphere: +0.64 C above 20-year average
Southern Hemisphere: +0.34 C above 20-year average
Tropics: +0.42 C above 20-year average
(All temperature anomalies are based on a 20-year average (1979-1998) for the month reported.)
Notes on data released Sept. 7, 2010:
August 2010 was the second hottest August in the 32-year satellite temperature dataset, with a global average temperature that was only 0.01 C cooler than the record set in August 1998, according to Dr. John Christy, professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. That difference is well within the error range of the measurement, however, so the two months might as well be tied for the hottest August in 32 years.
As the El Nino Pacific Ocean warming event continues to fade, 2010 remains the second hottest year in the record, with average daily temperatures through August that were only 0.06 C (about one-tenth of one degree Fahrenheit) cooler than the record set in 1998—also during an El Nino Pacific Ocean warming event.