2009 will be one of the hottest years of the decade and is likely to become one of the five or six hottest years in history, judges the American Oceanic and Atmospheric Institute (NOAA) in a report released Tuesday.
"Both land and ocean surface temperatures up to October were on average 0,56 degrees Celsius higher than usual, and the fifth warmest on record," say researchers at NOAA which began to raise temperatures in 1880.
Confirming the predictions of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published Monday in Copenhagen, the NOAA estimates that the decade 2000-2009 will be "the hottest decade in history with temperatures 0,54 degrees Celsius above average those of the 20th century ".
Arctic ice cap surface minimum for third consecutive year since 2007, ocean temperatures are sixth warmest on record, 0,47 degrees Celsius above average 20th century.
For the United States, the average temperature will have been above normal in 2009 as well as the volume of precipitation. In contrast, the hurricane season was relatively calm, with nine tropical storms and three hurricanes.
AFP
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