Specter of Global Drought Disasters Looming
Global Food Shortages Would Follow
The Planet Can Survive Higher Temperatures; YOU Can’t!
The first six months of 2010 has been the warmest on record so far. The average global temperatures for the first half of the year were 0.03 degree Fahrenheit higher than the previous record set in 1998, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
The El Nino weather pattern was the major driver for the hot temperatures globally, climate scientists say.
“We had an El Nino episode in the early part of the year that’s now faded but that has contributed to the warmth not only in equatorial Pacific but also contributed to anomalously warm global temperatures as well,” said Jay Lawrimore, chief of climate analysis at the National Climatic Data Center.
Although La Nina could bring in cooler temperatures globally later this year, 2010 could still prove to be the hottest year overall since the records began, overtaking 2005 the previous record holder.
“This year the fact that the El Nino episode has ended and is likely to transition into La Nina, which has a cooling influence on the global average temperature, it’s possible that we will not end up with the warmest year as a whole.” Lawrimore said.
Global View
- The Arctic sea, the ice melted to its thinnest level in June.
- Britain has seen it driest year in 80 years.
- Parts of Middle East are undergoing the most severe drought since records began.
- Northern Thailand is experiencing the worst drought in living memory.
- The U.S.: “It’s going to be pretty warm across eastern Nebraska, Iowa, western portions of Missouri, mid to upper 90s (F),” said Donald Keeney, senior agriculture meteorologist with CROPCAST Ag Services.
- Large temperatures anomalies in most parts of Africa, Canada and tropical oceans have been registered, a report said.
Land Surface Temperatures, Early July 2010
Global map shows temperature anomalies for July 4–11, 2010, compared to temperatures for the same dates from 2000 to 2008. The anomalies are based on land surface temperatures observed by MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. Areas with above-average temperatures appear in red and orange, and areas with below-average temperatures appear in shades of blue. Oceans, lakes, and areas with insufficient data (usually because of persistent clouds) appear in gray. Source of Image and caption (edited) NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (3 MB, PNG)
Note from original caption: “Because this image shows temperature anomalies rather than absolute temperatures, not all red areas are warmer than all blue areas. Red-hued northern Canada, for instance, is not warmer than blue-hued northern Mexico. Although deep red tones predominate along the mid-Atlantic coast, absolute temperatures are probably warmer in the barely orange American Southwest. Unusually warm conditions predominate in South America, but the Southern Hemisphere is in winter.”
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