2010 on the way to be record-hot year

After eight months, 2010 is running with 1998 for the record as the hottest year at this point.

The planet's temperature for January-August was 14.7 Celsius, the same as the record heat set for that period in 1998. While 1998 was the hottest year through the first eight months, 2005 is the hottest full year on record.

It was the third-hottest August on record with an average temperature for the month of 16.2 C. The hottest August was 1998, followed by 2009. The meteorological summer — June-August — was 16.2 C, making it the second-hottest summer on record worldwide behind 1998.

Meanwhile, a separate report said Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year and is the third-lowest extent recorded since satellites began measuring minimum sea ice extent in 1979.

Arctic sea ice covered 6.0 million square kilometers during August. This is 22 percent under the 1979-2000 extent and the 14th consecutive August with below-average Arctic sea ice extent.

Melting sea ice is part of a pattern of changes atmospheric scientists attribute to global warming, which has been documented in rising temperatures over the last several decades. Other changes include melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica, which can make sea levels rise, a decline in glaciers and changes in weather patterns around the world.
Adapted from an article by Cass Bird for Time Magazine. Picture by Jim Elliott.