2008 joins warmest years on record, NASA reports

WASHINGTON – The year 2008 was the ninth-warmest year since instrumental temperature measurements began in 1880, and all of the nine warmest years have occurred in the past 11 years, NASA reported Tuesday.

The new data from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and other government agencies adds to the evidence that scientists have been observing about a warming Earth as burning fossil fuels emits heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.

NASA also reported that the January to November global temperature was 0.76 degrees Fahrenheit above the average for the 20th century and that the past year was cooler than any since 2000. Scientists note that global warming is a steady trend, but within it there are natural variations.

The NASA report noted that “Eurasia, the Arctic and the Antarctic Peninsula were exceptionally warm, while much of the Pacific Ocean was cooler than the long-term average.”

It said the relatively cooler temperature in the tropical Pacific was due to a La Nina, the cool phase of a natural temperature variation.

Britain’s Met Office on Tuesday also said that La Nina was part of the reason 2008 was slightly cooler than earlier years this decade. By Britain’s accounting, 2008 was the 10th warmest year on record dating to 1850, and all 10 of the warmest years occurred since 1997.