NASA: 2012 Was 9th Hottest Year on Record
The year 2012 was the ninth warmest globally since record keeping began in 1880, said climate scientists today from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). The agencies said a warming pattern has continued since the middle of the 20th century.
The new data reveal the alarming, long-term trend of global warming caused by human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, climate scientists said.
“The planet is out of balance, there’s more energy coming in than going out,” said James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, during the press conference. “So therefore we can predict with confidence that the next decade is going to be warmer than the last one.”
The findings emphasize that skyrocketing emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are warming the planet. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere rather than letting it escape back into space.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen precipitously since the advent of the industrial revolution: In 1880, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was about 285 parts per million, while today, it is more than 385 parts per million, according to NOAA’s data. Though that carbon dioxide can come from natural sources, most of it comes from the burning of fossil fuels to power modern society.
Natural variations in weather mean the spike in atmospheric carbon dioxide may not translate into a year-over-year, consistent increase in the planet’s temperature, but each successive decade will probably be warmer.
But one trend that will most probably occur next year is 2012’s stunning loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer and fall, Karl said. That can have global implications because the Arctic can affect sea levels and weather patterns across the planet.