For all the climate change "deniers" out there, this is something known as science. You mighta heard of it?A new analysis of global surface temperatures by NASA scientists finds the past year was tied for the second warmest since 1880. In the Southern Hemisphere, 2009 was the warmest year on record.By the way, heating degree days this season in the Washington, DC area are 2,036, below the normal 2,067 of heating degree dsys. That's right, despite all the nonsense about how "cold" it's been this winter, it's actually been slightly warmer than normal in the Washington, DC area. That's in addition to 2009 being the 2nd warmest year ever on the planet. But don't worry, there's no global warming going on, just move right along...nothing to see here (ignore the melting glaciers, thawing permafrost, etc.).
Although 2008 was the coolest year of the decade because of a strong La Nina that cooled the tropical Pacific Ocean, 2009 saw a return to a near-record global temperatures as the La Nina diminished, according to the new analysis by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The past year was a small fraction of a degree cooler than 2005, the warmest on record, putting 2009 in a virtual tie with a cluster of other years --1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007 -- for the second warmest on record.
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"There's a contradiction between the results shown here and popular perceptions about climate trends," [GISS Director James] Hansen said. "In the last decade, global warming has not stopped."
P.S. And oh yes, certainly don't allow the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. I mean, we wouldn't want a melting planet and an acknowledged national security threat get in the way of someone's political career, now would we? Heh.
