2010 Tied for Hottest Year on Record

Analysis by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center reveals that the average land and ocean surface temperature for the planet tied with 2005 as the hottest on record (records began in 1880). The average global temperature was 0.62 deg C (1.12 deg F) above the 1971-2000 average. A separate analysis by NASA also confirms this ranking. While 0.62 deg C may seem trivial, that is just the global average. Some places were much warmer, some much cooler. By looking at the above image, the variation in temperatures are evident. Red colors indicate areas that were warmer than the historical average; blue colors indicate areas cooler than the historical average. A massive blue area is found in the Pacific due to the La Niña, which created cooler than average conditions for most of that basin and the western coastlines of the Americas. High pressure in the Arctic has also been causing localized cooler temperatures in Northern Europe and Siberia. Most other land masses, however, experienced temperatures warmer than average. In fact, some areas were 10 deg F warmer than average over the coarse of the year.

Full Report