New
York Times: The average temperature in the US in 2012
reached 55.3 °F, a full degree above the previous high set
in 1998. According to a count kept by Guy Walton of the
Weather Channel, 34 008
record daily highs were set at weather stations across the US,
versus only 6664 record lows. As recently as the 1970s, says
Walton, the ratio of record highs to record lows was nearly
1:1. Despite the startling jump in average temperature in the
US, it is believed that globally it will only be the eighth or
ninth warmest year thanks to a general cooling from the
La Niña
effect. If 2012 does make the top 10, all 10 of the warmest
average years will have occurred in the past 15. The warmth in
the US began with a warmer-than-average winter that led to a
severe heat wave in March. That heat wave contributed to
drought conditions in the summer that affected 61% of the US.
And 11 severe weather events, including hurricanes Isaac and
Sandy and the band of storms that introduced the term
derecho
to much of the nation, caused more than $1 billion in
damages.
