Worldwide, 2010 is on track to become the warmest year on record. Scientists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies reported recently that the average global temperature was higher over the past 12 months than during any other 12-month period in history. The US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released corroborating data, adding that the past four months, including June, have each individually been the hottest on record as well.
The 2009 State of the Climate Report released by NOAA on July 28th draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable. More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries contributed to the report, which confirms that the past decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.
Furthermore, satellite monitoring by the NSIDC in Boulder, Colorado, shows that the melting of sea ice has been unusually fast this year. The melt season started almost a month later than normal at the end of March and is not expected to end until September. Meanwhile, research from the polar science centre at the University of Washington suggests that the volume of sea ice in March 2010 was 38% below the 1979 level when records began.
