Washington: The year 2010 is turning out
to be the warmest ever in recorded history, with the first
four months reporting an average temperature of 13.3 degrees
Celsius which is 0.69 degrees above the 20th century average.
The combined global land and ocean surface
temperatures for the period between January and April were the
warmest on record, and April was the warmest individual month
ever, America`s climate agency has said in its latest report.
The combined April global land and ocean average
surface temperature was the warmest on record at 14.5 degrees
Celsius (58.1 degrees F).
This is 0.76 degrees Celsius above the 20th century
average of 13.7 degrees Celsius, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said.
The earth`s temperature for January-April at 56.0
degrees Fahrenheit (13.3?C), is 1.24 degrees Fahrenheit or
(0.69 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average, it said.
While the global ocean surface temperature was 0.57
degrees C above the 20th century average of 16 degrees and the
warmest on record for April, the global land temperature was
1.29 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 8.1,
the third warmest on record for April.
The report said the warmth was most pronounced in the
equatorial portions of major oceans, especially the Atlantic.
Warmer-than-normal conditions dominated the globe,
with the most prominent warmth in Canada, Alaska, eastern US,
Australia, South Asia, northern Africa and northern Russia.
Cooler-than-normal places included Mongolia,
Argentina, far eastern Russia, the western contiguous United
States and most of China, it said.
The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a climate
pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean on
average every five years, weakened in April, as sea-surface
temperature anomalies decreased across the equatorial Pacific.
The climate pattern is known for its association with
floods, droughts and other weather disturbances in many
regions of the world, which vary with each event.
The weakening contributed significantly to the warmth
observed in the tropical belt and the warmth of the overall
ocean temperature for April.
According to NOAA`s Climate Prediction Center, El Nino
is expected to continue through June.
The agency said the Arctic sea ice was below normal
for the 11th consecutive April, and 2.1 percent below the
1979-2000 average extent. It was, however, the largest April
Arctic sea ice extent since 2001.
Further, satellite observations showed snow cover
extent was fourth-lowest on record since 1967.
PTI
