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This is an archive article published on August 11, 2013
A new 8216;climate normal8217;
A 2012 State of the Climate report released last week re-established that last year
Written by Reuters
August 11, 2013 05:26 AM IST
2 min read
2 min read
A 2012 State of the Climate report released last week re-established that last year was one of the 10 hottest on record,with extreme weather in various corners of the globe signalling a new normal. Meant to be a guide for policymakers,the report did not attribute the changes in climate to any one factor,but made note of continued increases in heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The report drew contributions from 384 scientists from 52 countries. Its conclusions:
Global surface temperatures land and water were the eighth or ninth warmest ever
In the decade leading up to 2012,global temperatures actually declined by .05 degrees C,though 50-year trend indicates global temperatures increased about .15 degree C per decade
Sea levels reached a record high,after a sharp decrease in 2011 possibly linked to the phenomenon La Nina
Arctic sea ice shrank to its smallest summer minimum since satellite records began 34 years ago,while Antarctic sea ice reached a record high
More than 97 per cent of the ice sheet covering Greenland melted at least a bit in the summer of 2012,four times greater than the 1981-2010 average
Ocean heat was near record high levels in the upper .8 km of water; temperatures also increased in the deep ocean
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