All-time high temperature record falls in Russia in 2010

Russia set its all-time record high on July, 11 2010 with a temperature of 111.2°F in Yashkul, which is in the European portion of the country. The previous record was 110.8°F set in 1940.

All-time high temperature records fall in Asia, Africa, Middle East in 2010

Africa, Asia, and the Middle East all saw their all-time high temperature records broken in May and June of this year - 2010:

- Pakistan: 128.3°F, May 26
- Myanmar: 116.6°F, May 12
- Iraq: 125.6°F, June 14
- Saudi Arabia: 125.6°F, June 22
- Chad: 117.7°F, June 22
- Niger: 118.8°F, June 22

Bahrain, Kuwait, and Quatar tied their high-temperature records in June 2010.

12-month, 60-month Global Average Temperatures since 1880

12-month and 60-month running mean global land-ocean average temperatures since 1880 from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies:

12-month average temperatures since 1950 correlated with El Nino and La Nina events, as well as recent major volcanic eruptions:

Arctic Ice Volume

Arctic ice volume - areal extent plus thickness - since 1979. This is a more accurate representation of ice in the arctic than simply areal extent:

Arctic Melt Season

The length of the Arctic melt season since 1979 as measured by NASA:

Stratospheric Water Vapor

Stratospheric water vapor, in ppm, from 1993. Declining water vapor in the stratosphere is attributed to declining stratospheric temperatures.

Greenland Temperatures

Temperatures from one station in Greenland since the late 1800s:

Arctic Oscillation

Stratospheric cooling results in counterclockwise circulation around the North Pole (the Arctic Oscillation) to strengthen in winter, its positive phase, acting to keep the polar jet stream north of the 45th parallel. In its positive phase, the AO results in warmer winters in the US, Scandinavia, and Russia.

For more on the stratosphere, click on the 'Stratosphere Temperatures' category in the right column.

The Arctic Dipole

A little background. In the latter part of the 20th century, a new and never-before seen weather pattern emerged in the arctic region called the Arctic Dipole anomaly. Typically in the winter months, the Arctic Oscillation results in winds circulating around the pole in a circular fashion, keeping sea ice restricted to the Arctic Basin. Higher air temperatures in the lower arctic atmosphere have resulted in changes in atmospheric circulation in which the classic arctic high is shunted off to the side while south to north winds bring warmer air into the polar region and also push sea ice out into the general region of the North Atlantic. The mechanism is observed to be heating of the ocean in areas of extreme summer sea ice loss, directly impacting surface air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean. As a result, the Arctic Dipole has been increasingly evident in the arctic in recent years and months.

According to one researcher, "The Arctic Dipole pattern occurred in all summer months of 2007 and helped support the record 2007 summer reduction in sea ice extent (Overland et al., 2008). Fall 2008 through spring 2009 featured the old AO pattern. The new Arctic Dipole pattern re-appeared in June - July 2009, but the old AO pattern dominated in August - September, resulting in greater sea ice extent than in 2007 and 2008. The Arctic Dipole pattern was active again in October, inactive in November, and is reasserting itself this December."

Regardless of your viewpoint on climate change, the Arctic Dipole represents a fundamental new change in atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere, one that has not been seen before, and is appearing with increasing regularity. It's likely to help speed the loss of ice from the arctic region in coming years.

Deforestation, various countries, since 1990

Deforestation rates, by county, since 1990:

Deforestation in Borneo

Deforestation in Borneo since 1950:

Sea Level Rise

A record of sea level rise dating from 1880 averaged from 23 geologically stable tide gauge sites:

Sea level rise is attributable to melting ice and/or thermal expansion. Coming out of the last ice age, when sea levels were about 300' lower than today, seas rose quickly in response to melting continental glaciers. This ceased about 4,000 years ago when sea level stabilized.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Records of the glacier on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa date back 11,000 years. Here are two images of the glacial cap, one from 1993 and the other from 2000:

Southern Hemisphere Sea Ice Extent

Extent of sea ice in the southern hemisphere since 1978:

Spring first-leaf dates in the northern hemishere

A chart of the spring first-leaf dates in the northern hemisphere from 1961-2000 taken from 1147 stations. Orange-red indicated earlier dates, blues and purple later:

Schwartz et al., 2006

Alpine Glacier Trends, Globally, since 1970

A graphic depicting the average alpine (mountain) glacial trends, by region, since 1970:

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Seasonal Snowfall

119 years worth of seasonal snowfall data at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania:

Mean Temperature in Fairbanks, Alaska

Mean minimum temperature in Fairbanks, Alaska. 105 year record:

Length of Growing Season

Length of the growing season in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1880 to today:

Length of growing season in the central UK since 1960:

In the Netherlands:

From the Wisconsin climate office, the Milwaukee growing season:

Atmospheric Carbon-14 Ratios

Carbon-14 has a short half life, thus it is not found in ancient fossil fuels. Burning these fuels then decreases the 14C/12C ratio in the atmosphere. This is a measurement of 14C levels from 1820 up until about 1950. Nuclear bomb tests in the late-40s and 50s put large amounts of 14C into the atmosphere, so records after that date cannot be used, Specifically, tree ring data from after 1960 is unreliable because of the nuclear testing, so it is not used in climate modeling:

Multiple Carbon Isotope Records

Carbon isotope records from multiple locations worldwide, dating to 1600. Natural sources of carbon increase the 13C/12C ratio. Burning of fossil fuels - organic fuels - puts 12C into the atmosphere, lowering the ratio:

New Zealand Average Surface Temperatures

New Zealand average surface temperatures for the period from 1908 to 2006, from the Ministry of the Environment; National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research:

Biomass Burning and Deforestation

Deforestation and biomass burning are the second leading source of atmospheric CO₂ annually, with estimates ranging up to 25% of the total:

Some deforestation trends from the Amazon basin since 1989:

Carbon Isotopes from Australia

Carbon isotope data from extreme southern Australia over a short period, since 1990. Quick isotope refresher - natural carbon sources increase the 13C ratio, while emissions lower the 13C ratio in the atmosphere:

Migration of Plant Species by Elevation in Europe

The migration of 171 different plant species in Europe by elevation from 1905 to 2005. Graph can be difficult to interpret - study showed an upward shift in species optimum elevation averaging 29m/decade:

Volcanic Eruptions

A chart comparing the strength of global volcanic eruptions (which have a cooling affect) to El Nino events (which have a warming affect) and GISS satellite temperature averages since 1970:

US Continental Shelf Salinity

Salinity of the continental shelf off the east coast of the US since 1978:

Species Migration: Red Hake Fish

Distribution shift of cold water Red Hake fish off the eastern seaboard of the US since 1968:

Australian Temperatures

Average mean temperatures from Canberra, Australia plus an average for all of Australia from the Bureau of Meteorology:

Looking at just the outback, two stations out there yielded maximum temperature data since 1952:

Permafrost Thawing Data

Average depth of the annual permafrost thaw in northern Canada. Not the longest record in the world:

Another, slightly longer, record from Alaska showing the number of days permafrost is above freezing:

January Temperatures in the Alps since 1860

A graph from the Switzerland meteorology office illustrating average January temperatures in the Alps since 1860:

Donner Summit, CA Snowpack

Maximum snowpack depth at Donner Summit, California since 1879:

Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)

A 65 million year old temperature record as told by oxygen-18 isotope measurements (left scale) from fossil ocean microorganisms. During the PETM, the Earth's average temperature was much warmer than today with approximately 550-600ppm CO₂ in the atmosphere. The warmer temps were the result of an estimated 1,000 - 2,000 gigatons of carbon released into the atmosphere, resulting in a 5 degree Celsius temperature increase planet-wide in as little as 10,000 years. Even though ecosystems at the time had thousands of years to adjust to the change, there were still extinctions and a turnover of mammals on the planet, in addition to radical changes in ocean currents, among other things.

Climate scientists estimate that humans have put 810 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere to yield a 100ppm increase in carbon dioxide to its current level of 380ppm. The thing about geologic time is understanding the rate and scale of change relative to today. The current rate at which carbon is entering the atmosphere is faster than when it was released into the atmosphere during the PETM. Ecosystems can adapt to changes that occur over a 1,000 year to 20,000 timeframe. And some of the changes you see on the graph below happened over million year time scales. Can Earth's current ecosystems adapt to potential changes on a much shorter time scale, say as little as 100 years? That's one of the questions.

Arctic Ice Thickness

From the National Snow and Ice Data Center, a graph depicting the thickness of Arctic ice, relative to its age:

Siberian Air Temperature Data

Annual mean air temperature from various stations in Siberia starting about 1890:

Average dates of ice out in Minnesota

Average dates of ice out in Minnesota since 1938:

Lake Superior Water Temperatures

A record of Lake Superior water temperatures dating back to 1981:

Duration of Winter Lake Ice in Wisconsin

Annual duration of winter lake ice on Lake Mendota, Wisconsin from 1852/53 to today:

Carbon Dioxide data for 25 million years

For sure, CO₂ levels have varied greatly over Earth's history. They've been higher than today, and they've been lower. However, data from Pearson & Palmer, 2000 suggests that CO₂ levels for the past 20 million years have remained relatively stable at less than 400ppm:

EPICA Dome C Ice Core

800,000 years worth of data from the EPICA Dome C in Antarctica: