NOAA's National Climatic Data Center: State of the Climate Global Analysis for January 2010

NOAA's National Climatic Data Center: State of the Climate Global Analysis for January 2010

Global Highlights

• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January 2010 was 0.60 °C (1.08°F) above the 20^th century average of 12.0 °C (53.6 °F). This is the fourth warmest January on record.
• The global land surface temperature for January 2010 was 0.83 °C (1.49 °F) above the 20^th century average of 2.8 °C (37.0 °F)—the twelfth warmest January on record. Land areas in the Southern Hemisphere were the warmest on record for January. In the Northern Hemisphere, which has much more land, comparatively, land surface temperatures were 18^th warmest on record.
• The worldwide ocean surface temperature for January 2010 was the second warmest—behind 1998—on record for January, 0.52 °C (0.94 °F) above the 20^th century average of 15.8 °C (60.5 °F). This can be partially attributed to the persistence of El Niño across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC), El Niño is expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere spring 2010.

Temperature Rankings and Graphics

Current Month

January	Anomaly	Rank (out of 131 years)	Warmest/Next Warmest Year on Record
Global
Land	+0.83°C (+1.49°F)	12nd warmest	2007 (+1.74°C/3.13°F)
Ocean	+0.52°C (+0.94°F)	2nd warmest	1998 (+0.56°C/1.01°F)
Land and Ocean	+0.60°C (+1.08°F)	4th warmest	2007 (+0.81°C/1.46°F)
Northern Hemisphere
Land	+0.85°C (+1.53°F)	18th warmest	2007 (+2.17°C/3.91°F)
Ocean	+0.50°C (+0.90°F)	2nd warmest	1998 (+0.55°C/0.99°F)
Land and Ocean	+0.63°C (+1.13°F)	6th warmest	2007 (+1.15°C/2.07°F)
Southern Hemisphere
Land	+0.77°C (+1.39°F)	1st warmest	2006 (+0.75°C/1.35°F)
Ocean	+0.55°C (+0.99°F)	2nd warmest	1998 (+0.58°C/1.04°F)
Land and Ocean	+0.58°C (+1.04°F)	2nd warmest	1998 (+0.60°C/1.08°F)

January Global Land and Ocean plot

January Global Hemisphere plot

The most current data may be accessed via the Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.

Read the full report here:  http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/?report=global&year=2010&month=1&submitted=Get+Report

Commerce Department proposes NOAA Climate Service

Commerce Department proposes NOAA Climate Service

by Alexa Jay, Climate Science Watch, February 9, 2010 

On February 8, 2010, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) unveiled a major new proposal for the establishment of a NOAA Climate Service, a new office tasked with serving the nation’s increasing climate information needs. We support this initiative as a significant step in the right direction, while noting that it appears to leave aside, for now, the question of how the Climate Service office will ultimately coordinate with the full suite of federal activities relevant to climate change adaptation and preparedness planning.

According to NOAA’s website, the Climate Service will “provide a single, reliable and authoritative source for climate data, information and decision-support services to help individuals, businesses, communities and governments make smart choices in anticipation of a climate changed future.”

Under the current proposal, the new Climate Service office will reorganize NOAA’s existing climate assets to create a single, visible and accessible point of entry for users, bringing together “research labs, climate observing systems, modeling facilities, integrated monitoring systems and extensive on the ground service delivery infrastructure.”

More information about the proposed program organization can be found here, and more general questions are addressed here.

Tom Karl, director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center and NOAA’s lead on climate services for more than a year, will serve as Acting Director of the NOAA Climate Service. New positions for six NOAA Regional Climate Services Directors will also be announced, providing “regional leadership for integrating user engagement and on-the-ground service delivery within the Climate Service.”

Early priorities for the new office are as follows:

•  The NOAA Climate Service will work to develop a sustained capacity to provide regional and sectoral climate vulnerability and risk assessments to more effectively meet the requirements of the US Global Change Research Act (national assessment required every 4 years).
•  The NOAA Climate Service will have a more clearly established regional footprint to coordinate and provide improved regional climate services.
•  The NOAA Climate Service will be able to better align climate observing and modeling assets with strategic needs.

 More at this link:  http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/index.php/csw/details/commerce_department_proposes_noaa_climate_service/