Driven by record high temperatures across Asia and Siberia, the Earth simmered to the third warmest boreal spring on record — with the fourth warmest May, according to the National Climate Data Center.
Global temperatures posted 1.08 °F above normal, only a fraction of a degree below the record set in 2005 for the same three-month period.
But the big picture glossed over some interesting if not alarming details, according to NCDC’s latest climate report.
In southern Alaska, for instance, spring chilled to the 38th coolest seen since the late 1800s, almost 2 degrees below normal. The Lower 48 states came in at the fifth warmest, extending a severe drought and delivering tornadoes. Elsewhere, oceans were cooler, as was Argentina and Chili. In general, the Southern Hemisphere was warm, but not in near record terms.
It’s the Northern Hemisphere that’s been fueling the fire, with the warmest Boreal Spring, 1.39 °F above normal. The Earth’s land masses also set all-time records.
Add it all up, and the global climate has continued the overall record warmth that began last fall. The first five months of 2007 has so far tied with 1998 as the warmest on record, slipping past the second warmest winter-spring seen in 2005.
Until the spring heat, the Earth had already sizzled to the second warmest January-to-March period since 1880, ending a winter season that saw some of the highest average temperatures on record.
As with spring conditions, it was the North leading, with land masses averaging 2.75 °F above normal — only a fraction of a degree cooler than the record set for the same period in 2002.