15 October 2009
September Temperatures Second Warmest On Record
Posted by Dan Satterfield
Notice the stripe of heat across the Arctic. Right in line with climate models. The ice albedo feedback is responsible.
The global temperatures for September are out today from the National Climate Data Center in Ashville NC. The trend of very warm temps. world wide continues. The Summer of 2009 will go down as one of the warmest on the instrument record and on the proxy record going back over a thousand years.
The sea ice trend in the Arctic continues down as well. More on this soon.
With the growing El Nino adding more heat to that being trapped by the record high levels of CO2 (for the past 10,000 years at least!) it is very possible we will set new planetary temperature records in this year or next. This El Nino is not likely to be as strong as the one in 1998, so we may fall just short.
If you are wondering about the Troposphere as a whole, the news is no better. Both the UAH and RSS satellite temperature data is indicating that Sep. was the second warmest on their records as well. The average upward trend on the satellite data is around .15C/decade for the this past summer.
Later,
Dan
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.
Hi Dan,
I found your blog through Gail, from Clay and Limestone. I don’t have the time right now to explore your blog like I’d like to, but am putting a link in my blog roll so I can come back.
I have only learned bits and pieces about global warming. I used to think that since our weather has gotten a bit cooler, how could the earth be getting warmer? From the little I remember, the melting glaciers are causing the ocean temps to change, and then causing changes in weather patterns. So, our winter weather in Nebraska seems to be coming sooner and staying later than it used to. The last couple summers have been cooler than normal. Does it make sense that this change could be from global warming? If you don’t have time to answer this, maybe you can tell me if any of your previous posts have explained that.
Thanks, Sue
Hi Sue,
Winters in Nebraska have actually gotten about 10 days shorter. Melting glaciers have very little affect on ocean temps. They do affect sea level. I’ve written several posts recently about the error in assuming that the weather in your backyard or town is representative of the planet. Check out the temperature anomaly maps I have posted. That should help in understanding.