Worldwide, August 2014 has been the warmest August on record globally, according to newly released NASA Temperature data, while the summer tied for the fourth warmest for the northern hemisphere
Temperature anomalies – in degrees Celsius – of various regions around the world in August 2014 , Source: NASA
2014 is on track to be the hottest year on record (Thompson, A. Climate Central 19 Sept 2014) according to the NASA data. The record-hot August marks the 38th consecutive August and the 354th consecutive month with a global average temperature above the 20th century average, according to the NCDC. Leading factors of the warming is the record warmest conditions parts the Pacific and Indian Ocean in both August and the entire January-August period. The Pacific warmth is due in part to the El Nino that has been struggling to develop there for much of the year. An El Nino is defined by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical central and eastern Pacific and tends to raise global temperatures; some El Nino years rank among the warmest on record.
The temperatures so far in 2014 compared to the top 5 warmest years on record.
Click image to enlarge. Source: NOAA/NDCC
Arctic Sea Ice
As the northern summer draws to a close, the Arctic sea ice melt season is coming to an end. And while the season didn’t top 2012’s record melt, it has still resulted in what will likely be the sixth lowest September minimum ice extent on record.
The extent, or area, of Arctic sea ice on Sept. 16, 2014, as it approached its minimum at the end of the summer melt season. The orange line shows the average extent of sea ice for the period from 1981-2010. Source: NSIDC
In 2012, the minimum reached 1.32 million square miles. The extent of the ice on Sept. 15 was 1.96 million square miles, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC).
In Australia
Source: ARCCSS, Author provided
Climate forensics
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
Figure 2: Very few parts of Australia escaped above average temperatures in 2013.
Reposted from Sources: Climate Central, Business Spectator, Climate Spectator, American Bureau of Meteorology
