2007 global temperature the 2nd-warmest ever recorded
The Earth's temperature for the first six months of the year was the second-warmest ever recorded, government scientists reported today. The average temperature of the planet was 1.13 degrees above average, which trails only 1998 for the warmest January-June period on record. January-June 1998 was 1.15 degrees above average.
For two separate data sets — the Northern Hemisphere and for the Earth's land surface — it was the warmest January-June on record, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The Northern Hemisphere was 2.48 degrees above the long-term average, while the land temperature was 2.12 degrees above average. Global temperature records date back to 1880. The climate center notes that anomalously warm temperatures have covered much of the globe throughout the year. The January-June 2007 temperature anomalies were warmer than average across all land areas, with the exception of Argentina.
Extreme heat in Asia in late May and early June killed 37 people in India and 110 in Pakistan, as temperatures soared to as high as 126 degrees. In late June, a heat wave in Europe killed about 40 people and contributed to scores of wildfires. Earlier, a May heat wave in western and central Russia broke several temperature records. In Moscow, temperatures on the 28th reached 91.2°F, the highest temperature recorded in May since 1891.
For the month of June, the NCDC says that global land surface temperature were the third-warmest on record. Temperatures were above average in Europe, eastern Brazil, northwestern Africa, and most of Asia and the contiguous USA. Cooler-than-average conditions occurred in Australia, western Russia, and the south-central USA.