The Climate of 2000 in Historical Perspective

The increase in global temperatures recorded over the past 100+ years (0.6○C/100 years) has been attributed by many to higher greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from the increased burning of fossil fuels. Temperatures have increased in all seasons and throughout almost all regions of the world during this period. The significance of this rise is supported by the absence of a similar increase at any time during the past 1000 years. There is also evidence that temperatures are now rising at a rate much higher than 0.6○C/century. Temperatures during the past 25 years have risen at a rate nearly 2○C/100 years, and a recent 16-month string of record-breaking global temperatures has led some to believe that temperatures may now be rising at a rate of more than 3○C/100 years. The continued increase in temperatures and the on-going debate regarding the best strategy for dealing with the threat of global warming have made climate monitoring efforts more important than ever before. The Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Climatic Data Center has collected and analyzed a wide array of global and regional temperature and precipitation data to assess the state of the climate in the year 2000. Data collected during the past year indicates a continuation of much-above-normal global temperatures even as the cold phase of ENSO (El-Nino/Southern Oscillation) brought cooler temperatures to the tropics throughout much of the year.