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With less than three months left this year, it's looking increasingly likely that 2012 will go down as the warmest year on record in the continental United States.
January-September was already the warmest first nine months, according to temperature data released Tuesday by the National Climatic Data Center.
Moreover, six of eight scenarios charted by the center have 2012 ending warmer than any other year in records that go back to 1895. The only scenarios where that would not happen are if the last quarter is among the 10 coldest on record.
Last month was the 23rd warmest September on record and, more significantly, marked "the 16th consecutive month with above-average temperatures for the Lower 48," the center said in its monthly State of the Climate Report.
January-September temperatures averaged 59.8 degrees Fahrenheit -- 3.8 degrees F above the 20th-century average.
This year has already seen the warmest March and July on record, and, except for September, every other month was in the top 20 warmest, weather.com noted.
Looking ahead, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center last month posted its three-month outlook, citing "enhanced chances for above normal temperatures from the Southwest through the Great Plains to the Northeast."
Weather.com meteorologist Nick Wiltgen noted that only eight of the past 117 years have had an October-December cold enough to drag the U.S. average in 2012 below the "warmest year" record now shared by 2006 and 1998.
In September, Wiltgen calculated that through August "the odds of not surpassing the warmest year on record are about 13 percent."
Now, he tweeted on Tuesday, those odds are about 7 percent.
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Oh my the sky is falling. If one year has to be the warmest on record it might as well be 2012. Of course we have about 1/4 of the year to go and it could be cooler than avg and there would go that story. Now that wouldnt be any fun so let's report on what might happen instead of what has happened. Also remember, avg is not normal. A lot of these reports always state, "warmer than normal".
The sky is falling---OZONE hole...
and a Gulf Dead Zone...
This is totally normal. Scientists can put a robot on mars, split an atom and create new life in a lab. But when it come to climate, politicians, big business and people writing on blogs are a more reliable source.
It's all Al Gore's fault.
If you want to discuss this , please at least learn the difference between a change in weather and a change of climate. One season does not mean anything, however the loss of the polar ice cap is not weather --it is climate change and it is going be devistating to human beings. Now you can choose to believe it is man made or not, but what is the advantage of not improving the environment --why is it so meaningful to conservatives to not want to clean up the mess man has made. The smog in our cities, the poison in our rivers, the mercury in our fish, the chemicals in our playgrounds are man made, yet the republicans want to debate if it is doing enough damage to affect the climate --- who cares, it is killing us. Why do the republicans not care if the Koch brothers polute our waters?
And what exactly will these devastating consequences be?
MtRant: more fertile farmland and fresh water
What good news. Sounds like longer growing seasons and happier Canadians. Whatever is causing this, we should encourage more of the same.
Dont worry folks Global cooling will be here for the next 5 months...LOL
Yes more global warming propaganda. Funny how the Midwest is is having record lows... Ok the earth has been here for millions of years it has been to hell and back. The earth can handle what ever we can give it. It will, survive its the people we need to worry about we might not survive what the earth has planned next...
Stop the global warming propaganda.
Did you look at the map?
Stop the deniers propaganda!
Why do you use the word denier to describe we skeptics.
The map shows the effects of where the continental high set up. These high pressure domes can persist in one place for weeks, which is exactly what happended this summer.
Next summer it might set up in a different spot and provide more moist air instead of flow off the desert Southwest.
The map may have nothing to do with global warming, and this article didn't claim it did.
He said the "mid west had record lows" and the map shows record highs. And then makes a stupid remark about propaganda. I say again....did you look at the map?
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but next year the comet C2012-S1 will be in the neighborhood. It looks like a collision with the Sun or possibly Mars which will spin off fragments toward Earth. Going to be an interesting year if we live past Dec 23 2012
Dec 21, 2012, you mean. I for one, will be in Vegas on that date! Where better to spend the last day on earth. As sung by 'All Time Low': Everybody knows, there's a party at the end of the world!
Im calling bullcrap. Down here in Texas we are having the most normal weather we have had in years. Heres a clue people; the Americas(specifically North America) has the most violent and unpredictable weather in the world!!!!! Stupid people forget that and are willing to throw their money at whatever "green solution" is said to be the cure. All the while the people who profit from them are laughing at your utter stupidity.
FOOL, apparently you must have been somewhere else,
TEXAS lost millions of trees...2011 Drought
and water is lacking...everywhere...here and on Planet Earth...
Meh the earth is in a warming cycle. Its gonna get hotter then itll get colder then hotter again. SUCH IS THE LIFE OF PLANETS! And why MARS is heating up, unless you think that was human intervention again.
Letit
Did you look at the map/ I'm to believe you and ignore the hard data.
The right has NO shame!
Global warming is such bullsh-- it isn't even funny!!!BULLSH--!!!!!!
Try 1186. That was the first year accurate weather equipment was used to track temperatures. Of course, things were pretty hot when the Earth was cooling. And things were pretty cold during the ice ages. So what is your point? The weather changes. Learn to live with it!
*Yawn*....Can we move on to a new crisis please?
Keep the Borders Open and we can go all that much faster: is there any special reason why we have a government that focuses on importiing NUMBERS USA aka 2 leggeds while we have the Dept of Interior, Fish & Wildlife; killing the animals off; while millions more are brutally and barbarically euthanized?
Simultaneously, they scream GLOBAL this and that...warming...PARADOX of deceitful lies...
This can't be true! The Republicans have been telling us for the past 20 years that there is no global warming.
Human responsibility is what they question. Climate change is unavoidable
Actually until it was impossible to ignore, they were saying there was no warming. Now they say it's just human responsibility. They'll change their story again when they're proven wrong....again!
West coast had such an enjoyable year. Yes to climate change! But then again mars is heating up, Im sure we are responsible for that too.
No it isn't
Oh FFFS!!!! Was a lot hotter here last year.....
What are these so called experts on????? In the last 10 years there has been at least two years that have be worst off than 2012........... These people should that their degrees back to where they got them and get their money back, for they suck.
And by the way there STILL IS NO GLOBAL WARMING
Because you say so?
Data be damned?
At least we can see that you have no need to get your money back for your education. You obviously didn't get any.
Yes this has been a warm year...but not everywhere.there will always be cooler areas too.But look at the records that are being broken...usually from the 1930s.Remember the liberal scare about the ice age in the 60s-70s ?How about the tree ring records showing cooler decades...how about finding forests under the ice in greenland?
Remember that we are also experiencing climate changes from the solar storms...of course liberals don't want to mention the facts other than the ones that fit their plan.
You don't get climate change from solar storms. You get auroras
Ferrosynthesis--I love your reply!! Down here in Bakersfield CA, about 11 years ago, we had aurora from one flare. I got to reading Spaceweather.com and found out about sun cycles, EMP's, solar flares, NEO's etc.. Indeed, we haven't seen anything yet compared to that EMP that caused fires in some of the telegraph offices in the 1800's--I believe they called it the Carrington event. If solar storms caused global warming--we'd be toast already!
There was not to be another GREAT FLOOD but no one ever said anything about Fire.
maybe we should all join the muzzies just to err on the safe side... (not)
thats it its time to regulate and tax america..that will make the world cooler
so the loons are sure its wasn't warmer 2 million years ago???
It's not relevant, so it doesn't matter.
Summer like weather has continued into the 2nd week of October here in California. We have had very little precipitation this year. I've lived here more than 40 years and I cannot remember a year in which warm weather continued this far into fall. Man made climate change or natural warming cycle, who knows.
I sincerely hope that all of the climate change denyers are very young so that they can suffer the full consequences of their willful ignorance. Maybe when the food supply goes to hell for lack of water and our farming communities turn into deserts and our coastal areas are underwater, they will begin to comprehend the magnitude of this disaster. Another little tidbit, viruses and bacteria multiply and mutate more rapidly in warm climates, so the rate of infectious and life threatening diseases is also likely to increase.
Since so many of the non-believers are in the gulf states, they will be first in line for the increased severity of tropical storms, hurricanes and tornadoes, as well as the coastal flooding that will become permanent. Sure hope you guys have beachfront property.
yea the climate has only been changing for 2 billion years, hotter then cooler. Im sure that obozo along with his usefull idiots can change that with a bunch of regulations and taxes,,
joe, nobody is suggesting that we control natural climate change.
Oh dear, all the dire predictions and wacky forecasts! Where do you loons come up with this stuff? And what are you going to get out of all this warming Jock?
The Global Warming folks always say the deniers don't know how to use science. Well let's use science and reality to plan a solution to this 'warming'
Let's assume there is Global Warming due to man (CO2 emissions). The only SUPPOSED way to reverse the CO2 concentration would be to lower the CO2 coming from factories and cars etc.. Using the government and the EPA to enforce regulations designed to fix the problem. My guess would be that you need to not only get the USA, but also the world, to lower its outputs by about 50%. But nobody takes into account that there will be 12 BILLION people on the earth by 2050. So, in reality, you need to lower the CURRENT OUTPUT LEVELS by about 90%. That will never happen, people will always provide themselves the energy they need to survive.
So the only real solution to the 'Global Warming' issue is to develop scrubbers, that physically clean the air and pull out the CO2. Do you think this will be invented by a climatologist at your local university? or by one of those evil corporations? My guess is that if it comes to a question of human global survival, Walmart and DuPont will merge and create the scrubbers needed to clean the air, due to their greedy capitalist ways, they will see value in keeping 12 Billion potential customers alive and well.
Of course, when that day comes, I hope they aren't stopped from implementing their solution because of EPA regulations or a endangered spider.
Capitalism and survival instinct will solve our problems, not a government. How a group can go from "we have a global warming problem looming" to "we need a world government and world wide carbon credit trading to fix it" is mind bogglingly stupid
This alleged catastrophe is never going to happen Stunned. You cannot be serious about "scrubbers". I would suggest you get off the mind altering substances, quit watching so much MSNBC, and come up with a more coherent solution
Rex,
They already exist. Read a science journal and stop watching FOX.
Some types of scrubbers have been required in new power plants for decades - but they are mostly scrubbing pollution not greenhouse gasses. What they are talking about now is actually capturing everything, and then sequestering the CO2 underground. They have the tecnonology, but it really isn't very workable at this point. Not on the scale required.