Barring a near-impossible artic freeze dropping in for the rest of December, the year 2012 will officially be the hottest on record in the U.S.
It has also been ranked by the NOAA as the “most extreme,” on record. This means: “… the percentage area of the contiguous U.S. experiencing top-10 percent and bottom-10 percent extremes in temperature, precipitation, and drought.”
Climatologist Jeff Masters says: “…the U.S. heated up considerably in November, notching its 20th warmest November since 1895, said NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in their latest State of the Climate report. The warm November virtually assures that 2012 will be the warmest year on record in the U.S. The year-to-date period of January – November has been by far the warmest such period on record for the contiguous U.S. – a remarkable 1.0°F above the previous record. During the 11-month period, 18 states were record warm and an additional 24 states were top ten warm. The December 2011 – November 2012 period was the warmest such 12-month period on record for the contiguous U.S., and the eight warmest 12-month periods since record keeping began in 1895 have all ended during 2012.”
Ahh, but it’s just weather. Nothing to worry about, right? Apparently, there’s not much we can do about it, anyway.