Global Temperature Report: October 2010
Global climate trend since 1978: +0.14 C per decade
October temperatures (preliminary)Global composite temp.: +0.42 C (about 0.76 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for October.
Northern Hemisphere: +0.37 C (about 0.67 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for October.
Southern Hemisphere: +0.47 C (about 0.85 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for October.
Tropics: +0.15 C (about 0.27 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for October.
September temperatures (revised):Global Composite: +0.60 C above 20-year averageNorthern Hemisphere: +0.56 C above 20-year averageSouthern Hemisphere: +0.65 C above 20-year averageTropics: +0.29 C above 20-year average
(All temperature anomalies are based on a 20-year average (1979-1998) for the month reported.)
Notes on data released Nov. 2, 2010:How warm has 2010 been? So warm that although October was the coolest month so far this year year (compared to seasonal norms), it tied October 2006 asthe second warmest October in the 32-year satellite climate record, according to Dr. John Christy, professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Warmest Octobers*Year Globe NH SH Trpcs2005 0.47 0.48 0.45 0.152006 0.42 0.38 0.47 0.332010* 0.42 0.37 0.47 0.151998 0.41 0.51 0.31 0.342003 0.41 0.55 0.27 0.32004 0.36 0.33 0.38 0.192009 0.36 0.33 0.39 0.392001 0.3 0.25 0.36 0.212007 0.26 0.31 0.22 -0.112002 0.25 0 0.49 0.2*Compared to seasonal norms.
2010 remains the second hottest year in the record, with average daily temperatures through October that were only 0.03 C -- a difference that is not statistically significant -- cooler than the record set in 1998 duringan El Nino Pacific Ocean warming event.
* * *As part of an ongoing joint project between UAHuntsville, NOAA and NASA, Christy and Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist in the ESSC, use data gathered by advanced microwave sounding units on NOAA and NASAsatellites to get accurate temperature readings for almost all regions of the Earth. This includes remote desert, ocean and rain forest areas where reliable climate data are not otherwise available.
The satellite-based instruments measure the temperature of the atmosphere from the surface up to an altitude of about eight kilometers above sea level. Once the monthly temperature data is collected and processed, it is placed in a "public" computer file for immediate access by atmospheric scientists in the U.S. and abroad.
Neither Christy nor Spencer receives any research support or funding from oil, coal or industrial companies or organizations, or from any private or special interest groups. All of their climate research funding comes fromfederal and state grants or contracts.
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