Warmest Year On Record: September Bookends The Hottest 12 Months To Date

NOAA’s latest State of the Climate roundup shows that September marked the 16th month in a row with above-average temperatures for the lower 48 states of the U.S. Both the calendar year and the 12-month period from October 2011 through September 2012 were the warmest on record, and statistics show that it will require an unusually cold October through December period for 2012 to rank anything other than the warmest year.

The U.S. has never before recorded 16 straight months of above-average temperatures, and although natural variability has also played a role, the warmth this year is consistent with long-term trends related to global warming.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/warmest-year-on-record-2012_n_1954997.html?utm_hp_ref=extreme-weather