2006 was the Hottest Year on Record for the U.S

A new U.S. government report says that 2006 was the hottest year on record for the United States, and that the increase in global warming and El Niño both played a role.

December 2006 was the fourth warmest December in the United States since record-keeping began in 1895, according to the report, which was issued by the government's National Climatic Data Center. Five states had their warmest December ever on record, and not one single state was colder than average for the month. Six other months were also much warmer than average.

Both El Niño and global warming due to greenhouse gases played a role. According to the government's report, "The unusually warm start to this winter reflected the rarity of Arctic outbreaks across the country as an El Niño episode continued in the equatorial Pacific. A contributing factor to the unusually warm temperatures throughout 2006 also is the long-term warming trend, which has been linked to increases in greenhouse gases. This has made warmer-than-average conditions more common in the U.S. and other parts of the world. It is unclear how much of the recent anomalous warmth was due to greenhouse-gas-induced warming and how much was due to the El Niño-related circulation pattern. It is known that El Niño is playing a major role in this winters short-term warm period."

The Washington Post quotes Jay Lawrimore, chief of the climate monitoring branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as saying that "[p]eople should be concerned about what we are doing to the climate." He said, "Burning of fossil fuels is causing an increase in greenhouse gases, and there's a broad scientific consensus that is producing climate change."

Worldwide, 2006 was the 6th hottest year on record. A recent report from the British government's Meteorological Office predicts that there is a 60% chance that 2007 will be the hottest year ever worldwide.

According to a press release from the Union of Concerned Scientists, "the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is the highest it has been in the past 650,000 years." Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, a climate scientist with the organization, said "Heat-trapping global warming gases remain in the atmosphere for decades or centuries. Realistically, we have to start fighting global warming in the next 10 years if we want to secure a safe environment for our children and grandchildren."

Sources:

Climate Experts Worry as 2006 Is Hottest Year on Record in U.S., by Marc Kaufman, Washington Post, Jan. 10, 2007

Climate of 2006 - in Historical Perspective, Annual Report, National Climatic Data Center, Jan. 9, 2007, http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2006/ann/ann06.html

NOAA Reports 2006 warmest year on record for U.S., National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration website, http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2772.htm

2006 Warmest Year on Record in U.S., Union of Concerned Scientists press release, Jan. 9, 2007

Historically Hot in 2007, Spiegel Online, Jan. 4, 2007