NOAA State of the Climate Report: Earth Is Continuing to Warm

On July 28, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its 2009 State of the Climate report indicating that the earth is continuing to warm. “For the first time, and in a single compelling comparison, the analysis brings together multiple observational records from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the ocean,” said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco . “The records come from many institutions worldwide. They use data collected from diverse sources, including satellites, weather ballons, weather stations, ships, buoys and field surveys. These independently produced lines of evidence all point to the same conclusion: our planet is warming.”

The report emphasized that while short-term, year-to-year changes are variable and due to natural climatic events like El Nino/La Nina, the long-term, decade-to-decade trend is one of increasing average temperatures. Each decade since 1980 has been warmer than the last. Key indicators include: higher temperatures over land and oceans, warmer oceans, higher near-surface air temperatures, increased humidity, higher sea surface temperatures and levels, less snow cover and sea ice, and shrinking glaciers. “Each indicator is changing as we would expect if the world truly were warming,” said Peter Thorne of the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites . “Not a single analysis disagrees that the global climate is changing. The bottom line conclusion that the world’s been warming is simply undeniable.”

Want to learn more about the science of climate change? Click here to read EESI's electronic newsletter Climate Change News or sign up for a FREE subscription.