Warming bigtime up north - Path to Sustainable

NOAAâo[dot accent]s National Climatic Data Center reported last month:

Based on preliminary data, the globally-averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the fifth warmest on record for April, and the January-April year-to-date period tied with 2003 as the sixth warmest on record.

lt is worth noting "the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) transitioned from a cold phase (La Niña) to ENSO-neutral conditions during April 2009," which kept things on the coolish side. If we stay neutral (as most models currently predict), it'll get hotter and if go into an El Niño (as some models predict) then we should be back to setting record temperatures.

And no, I donâo[dot accent]t think the monthly data tell us much about the climate. But I know reporting it annoys the deniers. More seriously, it is definitely worth seeing where it is warming [click to enlarge]:

[More]

âo¢ NOAA recently reported: âo[ogonek]Methane levels rose in 2008 for the second consecutive year after a 10-year lull,âo[caron] âo¢ Scientific analysis suggests the rise in 2007 methane levels came from Arctic wetlands (see here). âo¢ Siberia contains probably the worldâo[dot accent]s largest amount of carbon locked away in the permafrost (see here). âo¢ The permafrost is increasingly not so perma (see here). âo¢ Much of that carbon would be released as methane, which is 23 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

[More at Path to Sustainable]

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