Warmest Decade

This McClatchy article is not surprising to those following global warming.

We have just experienced the warmest decade on record.

Yes, but now what. In my opinion, the trend seems likely to continue especially in light of the fact that key contributors to this warming have increased.

McClatchy: NASA reports 2000-2009 was warmest decade on record

The NASA space studies institute has reported that since 1880, when good record keeping began, the average global temperature has increased by about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The increase over each of the past three decades has been about one-third of a degree Fahrenheit.

Hansen noted that there's substantial year-to-year variability in global temperatures caused by El Nino and La Nina, periodic climate patterns in the tropical Pacific Ocean. "When we average temperature over five or 10 years to minimize that variability, we find global warming is continuing unabated."