Every month University of Alabama in Huntsville climatologists John Christy and Roy Spencer publish the latest global temperature trend data obtained from NOAA satellites. For the month of November 2015 they report:
As expected, the El Niño Pacific Ocean warming event continued to push temperatures to record highs in November, although the monthly anomaly in the Northern Hemisphere dropped from October to November, said Dr. John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "The Northern Hemisphere cooled a bit in November, leading to a small drop in global temperatures. The tropical Pacific Ocean is still very warm, with much above normal quantities of heat that likely will be transferred to the atmosphere in the coming months."
In comparing the 1997-1998 El Niño to the current event, Christy noted that while the tropics were cooler in November 1997 than they are now (+0.34 to +0.53 C), "the tropics warmed to +1.28 C by February 1998 during that big El Niño." While this doesn't mean the current El Niño will necessarily follow the same warming pattern over the next four months, it is a point from history to remember, Christy said.
Despite the cooling in the Northern Hemisphere, globally November 2015 was the warmest November in the 37-year satellite temperature dataset, with a temperature that was 0.05 C warmer than November 2009. It was also the warmest November in both the Northern Hemisphere and the tropics.
Spencer
Global climate trend since Nov. 16, 1978: +0.11 C per decade
November temperatures (preliminary)
Global composite temp.: +0.33 C (about 0.59 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for November.
Northern Hemisphere: +0.43 C (about 0.77 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for November.
Southern Hemisphere: +0.23 C (about 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for November.
Tropics: +0.53 C (about 0.95 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for November.
Go here to see the monthly temperature data since 1979.
