2006 Breaks U.S. Temperature Record

(CBS/AP)  Last year was the warmest on record for the United States, with readings pushed over higher than normal by the unusual and unseasonably warm weather during the last half of December.

Preliminary data from the National Climatic Data Center listed the average temperature for the 48 contiguous states last year as 55 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 2.2 degrees warmer than average and 0.07 degree warmer than 1998, the previous warmest year on record.

Worldwide, the agency said, it was the sixth-warmest year on record.

In December the center had predicted that 2006 would be the United States' third-warmest year, but unusual readings later that month pushed the year into first place.

The center said it is not clear how much of the warming is a result of greenhouse-gas induced climate change and how much resulted from the current El Nino warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, British climate scientists have predicted that a resurgent El Nino climate trend combined with higher levels of greenhouse gases could touch off a fresh round of ecological disasters and make 2007 the world's hottest year on record.

El Nino conditions occur every few years in the Pacific and can affect climate around the world, producing warmer conditions in the United States.

The average U.S. and global temperature are both about 1 degree warmer than at the start of the 20th century, a change many scientists attribute to gases released into the atmosphere by industrial processes.

The temperature data was collected from a network of more than 1,200 stations across the country.

The climate center said the unusual warmth in early winter reduced residential energy needs by 13.5 percent compared to average conditions for the season.

While December started cold, spring-like conditions abounded in the eastern states during the last half of the month, making it the nation's fourth-warmest December. Five states had their warmest December on record — Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. No state was colder than average in December.

Even New Hampshire's Mount Washington, which boasts "the worst weather in America," broke high temperature records last week, CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reports. Scientists says it's the fourth warmest winter on record there.

[WatchDog45]

AnibalHector, wrote -The North Americans (are?) paying the consequences of the error of their governors against the treaty of Kioto. - This (daqo?) that the USA it causes to the world, now reaches also to the North Americans.

Yes, the Kyoto protocal was pretty much railroaded here in the US. Nothing but campeigning against it by our President and I am not sure we ever got a true picture of why other than it is bad for the economy and The US should not have to abide by some of its rules for some reason. I will humbly admit I do not know much about it or the reasons for the resistance to it. My gut tells me big oil/manufacturing/energy producers lobbied (lined the pockets of the right politicians) heavily against it.

[anibalhector]

Los norteamericanos estan pagando las consecuencias del error de sus gobernantes contra el tratado de Kioto.- Este daqo que USA ocasiona al mundo, ahora alcanza tambien a los norteamericanos.

[WatchDog45]

Once you figure out where to plant things because what is now lush cropland will be a dry dustbowl. Global climate change will alter our climactic regions.

[bildooreilly]

CO2 encourages plant growth, more CO2 = better crop production, better growth, higher yields... maybe global warming will solve global hunger...

[bildooreilly]

I'm saving some money on my heating bill too which is a good thing since the power company donated a half a million dollars to both political parties they let them raise our electricity rates 40%...

[bildooreilly]

Didn't the UN find in a report last year I believe it was that most greenhouse gases were caused by third worlders cooking with dung?

[processor2]

think global warming is great

Think how much money the Poor & Elderly will save on their heating bills.

...........

[WatchDog45]

mt5937 is part of that group that buys what the pundits are telling them, that, this is part of the normal climate cycle of the earth. There is a partial truth to that in that the earth climate has fluctuated for tens of thousands of years. The nice thing about science and the tiny air bubbles trapped in glaciers is that we can discern other atmospheric data along with the temperature fluctuations showing the history of those changes. The last 4 or 5,(I forget this number) track perfectly well. As carbon dioxide levels rise naturally the temperatures rise in unison with those elevated carbon levels. Now add humans and fossil fuels and more carbon dioxide is now in the atmosphere than has been in the past 650,000 years. Our chart with both temperature levels and carbon levels is tracking upward however rising temperatures, have yet to catch the elevated carbon levels. If the historical data from the past 4 or 5 warming trends holds true then we can expect unbearable heat in the not to far distant future. I am still waiting for someone to give me a scientific explanation as to why this cycle we are in is different from the past 4 or 5 and will not track accordingly. i.e. temperature tracks upwards and relative to elevated carbon dioxide levels. I do hear quite a bit of, "it is the natural cycle" but have yet to hear someone provide the data to show why it is going to be different this time and the temperature will stop rising, not tracking with the elevated carbon levels.

[duffyn]

We may not be able to stop global warming but we CAN make a huge difference and let it be a normal cycle. See movie "An Inconvenient Truth". Carbone Dioxide plotted against temperature for the last 650,000 years follow each other almost exactly. Only now, on the chart, carbone dioxide (greenhouse gas) is so high on the chart, it IS rediculous and very scary. I don't know when people will truly wake up on this issue. I think it may come with sea level rise when all the rich waterfront property owner's gorgeous view is of a sea wall built in front of their property to hold the sea back. Then, you will truly see some screaming! Oh, when most of the ground floors of the WTC are under water, we will then give global warming a greater priority then terrorism.

[enufalready1]

To mt5937:

You stated:

---Global warming is part of a natural, normal weather cycle.

We may be contributors to the warming trend, but we certainly didn't cause it - nor can we stop it. ---

A heart attack, bad teeth, balding, alzheimers, MS and other ailments are also part of a natural, normal cycle. Are you saying we shouldn't do anything to try to eliminate them? Since we didn't "cause" them, we should just live with them?

I hereby revoke your medical insurance and access to any medical services.