Vol. 17, No. 9
For Additional Information: Dr. John Christy, UAH, (256) 961-7763 Dr. Roy Spencer, UAH, (256) 961-7960
Global Temperature Report: January 2007
Global climate trend since Nov. 16, 1978: +0.14 C per decade
January temperatures (preliminary)
Global composite temp.: - 0.05 C (about 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit) below 20-year average for January.
Northern Hemisphere: - 0.12 C (about 0.22 degrees Fahrenheit) below 20-year average for January.
Southern Hemisphere: +0.02 C (about 0.04 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for January.
December temperatures (revised):
Global Composite: +0.11 C above 20-year average
Northern Hemisphere: +0.15 C above 20-year average
Southern Hemisphere: +0.08 C above 20-year average
(All temperature variations are based on a 20-year average (1979-1998) for the month reported.)
Notes on data released Feb. 11, 2008:
Compared to seasonal norms, January 2008 was the coolest month since July 2004, and the first cooler than normal month since mid-2006, according to Dr. John Christy, a professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center (ESSC) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).
"The chill caused by the La Nina Pacific Ocean cooling event is being felt in temperatures around the globe," said Christy. "This is the coolest departure from global averages since July 2004 and the coolest January since 2000. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the coolest departure for any month since April 1997, before the record El Nino (Pacific Ocean warming event) of 1997-'98."
January was only the third cooler than normal month since September 2000.
Color maps of local temperature anomalies may soon be available on-line at:
The processed temperature data is available on-line at:
vortex.nsstc.uah.edu/data/msu/t2lt/uahncdc.lt
As part of an ongoing joint project between UAH, NOAA and NASA, Christy and Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist in the ESSC, use data gathered by microwave sounding units on NOAA and NASA satellites to get accurate temperature readings for almost all regions of the Earth.
This includes remote desert, ocean and rain forest areas for which reliable climate data are not otherwise available. The satellite-based instruments measure the temperature of the atmosphere from the surface up to an altitude of about eight kilometers above sea level.
Once the monthly temperature data is collected and processed, it is placed in a "public" computer file for immediate access by atmospheric scientists in the U.S. and abroad.
Neither Spencer nor Christy receives any research support or funding from oil, coal or industrial companies or organizations, or from any private or special interest groups. All of their climate research funding comes from state and federal grants or contracts.
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© 2003 The University of Alabama in Huntsville |
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