2005 in the running for the hottest year this century
22 Dec 2005
2005 has experienced some of the highest global surface temperatures in more than a century, according to analysis from the United States NASA Goddard Institute for Space Study.
NASA's observations of the meteorological year from December 2004 to November 2005 show this period as roughly 0.72°C (1.3° Fahrenheit) above the historical average.
This will likely be true for the 2005 calendar year as well because differences between meteorological years and calendar years are usually extremely small.
But whether 2005 takes the crown for the hottest year this century is up for debate. Because of errors that often accompany such observations, 2005 may have tied with 1998 for the hottest year this century.
It is particularly significant that 2005 ran a close race with 1998 for the hottest year because 1998 was an El Niño year, a condition that naturally makes key parts of the planet warmer.
2005, however, was not a year with El Niño conditions. High temperatures this year were reached as part of the upward trajectory caused by increasing greenhouse gases, such as CO2, in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels.
In addition to NASA's observations, two other climate monitoring organisations - the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the UK Meteorological Office - agree that 2005 was indeed the hottest year on record, at least for the Northern Hemisphere.
Whether 2005 has been the hottest year, is tied for the hottest year, or is the second hottest year, the problem is the same - the planet is heating up.
