2010, warmest year ever

ISLAMABAD: The year 2010 is turning out to be the warmest ever in recorded history.

The first four months reported an average temperature of 13.3 degrees Celsius, which was 0.69 degrees above the 20th century average, said a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report on Tuesday.

The combined global land and ocean surface temperatures for the period between January and April were the warmest on record, and April was the warmest individual month ever.

The combined April global land and ocean average surface temperature was the warmest on record at 14.5 degrees Celsius which was 0.76 degrees above the 20th century average of 13.7 degrees Celsius.

While the global ocean surface temperature was 0.57 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 16 degrees and the warmest on record for April, the global land temperature was 1.29 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 8.1, the third warmest on record for April.

The report said the warmth was most pronounced in the equatorial portions of major oceans, especially the Atlantic.

Warmer-than-normal conditions dominated the globe, with the most prominent warmth in Canada, Alaska, eastern US, Australia, South Asia, northern Africa and northern Russia.

Cooler-than-normal places included Mongolia, Argentina, far eastern Russia, the western contiguous United States and most of China, it said.