Aug. 28, 2013: Last Year Was Warmest on Record for the US
State of the Climate Report Provides Detailed Update on Global Climate Indicators
WASHINGTON — The year 2012 was the warmest on record for the United States, and among the 10 warmest years on record worldwide, according to the 2012 State of the Climate report released by the American Meteorological Society. The peer-reviewed report, with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) serving as lead editors, was compiled by 384 scientists from 52 countries. It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events, and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments on land, sea, ice, and sky.
Conditions in the Arctic were a major focus in 2012, with the region experiencing unprecedented change and breaking several records, according to the report. Sea ice shrank to its smallest “summer minimum” extent since satellite records began 34 years ago. In addition, more than 97 percent of the Greenland ice sheet showed some form of melt during the summer, four times greater than the 1981-2010 average melt extent.