Mar 15, 2007, 20:21 GMT
Washington - The December to February winter season was the world's warmest since records began in 1880, although temperatures in the US were near average, a US government report said Thursday.
A Kashmiri fisherman waits for his catch on the Dal lake in the backdrop of Koh-i-Maraan Fort in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 15 February 2007. Many Kashmir valleys which used to receive at an average at least 10 feet of snow every year has not so far received even two feet. EPA/ALTAF QADRI
Global land and ocean surface temperatures were 0.72 degrees Centigrade above the mean for the 20th century, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.
That figure compares to the average per-decade climb of 0.18 degrees since 1976, and the average increase of 0.06 degrees measured since 1906, scientists at NOAA's climate data centre in Asheville, North Carolina, said.
Some of the largest increases have occurred in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, where longer warm seasons have been eroding the ice cover and posing a survival threat to such species as the polar bear, recent reports have said.
The scientists blamed part of the increase on the El Nino weather phenomenon powered by an unusual warming of the ocean's surface in the eastern tropical Pacific. Scientists believe El Nino influences global rain and storm patterns.
For the United States, the picture was cooler, helped by deep- freeze temperatures in February. The temperature of 0.9 degrees Centigrade was near the 20th century average of 0.6 degrees, the report said.
Above average rain and snow in the centre of the nation that swept as far south as southern California helped compensate for years of low rainfall and drought. Still, 25 per cent of the continental US continued to be in 'moderate-to-exceptional' drought by the end of February, the report said.
New evidence of climate change has mounted in the last few months, with 2006 the warmest year on record in the United States and a UN panel of scientists last month blaming humans for 'unequivocal' global warming. The US emits 25 per cent of the world's greenhouse emissions blamed for global warming by most scientists.
But there was a positive side to some of the warmer-than-average temperatures in the US Mid-west and East.
'The nation's residential energy demand was approximately 3 per cent lower than what would have occurred under average climate conditions for the season,' the report said.
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Bob(SA)Mar 16th, 2007 - 10:49:43
i dont remember it being that cool in 1880, infact it was kind of warm. cant remember for sure though.
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