How has 2012 rewritten America’s temperature records?
- 2012’s was America’s warmest March on record. It didn’t just barely break the record by a tiny fraction – it smoked it by half a degree.
- Measured against the historical average, March’s 8.6 degree deviation from normal was America’s second-largest on record, surpassed only by another recent warm month, January 2006.
- The first three months of 2012 were America’s warmest January to March on record.
What was scariest about March was how many cities in so many parts of America were so far above their historical averages and absolutely obliterated their records:
- Norfolk, VA was 6 degrees above normal & broke its March record by 1 degree
- Green Bay, WI was 10.4 degrees above normal & broke its March record by 4.4 degrees
- Des Moines, IA was 9.8 degrees above normal & broke its March record by 3.7 degrees
- Boston, MA was 6.4 degrees above normal & broke its March record by 1.6 degrees
- Bismarck, ND was 9.1 degrees above normal & broke its March record by 0.5 degrees
While Europe and much of Asia have been colder than usual this year, it’s not enough to offset the global trend. January-February were 0.67 degrees above the 20th century average and the 20th-warmest on record globally. NOAA has been unequivocal that global warming is fueling the trend. Have your local meteorologists been willing to point out that fact? And do your elected officials know it’s time to act?
