NOAA: Global Temperature Seventh Warmest for Spring, Eighth Warmest for May The combined average global land and ocean surface temperatures for spring (March-May) ranked seventh warmest, while May was the eighth warmest since worldwide records began in 1880 according to an analysis by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
Spring (March-May) Highlights
The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for spring 2008 was 0.94 degrees F above the 20th century mean of 56.7 degrees F and ranked seventh warmest based on the 1880-2008 record.
The global land surface temperature for spring was 1.87 degrees F above the 20th century mean of 46.4 degrees F and tied with 2000 as third warmest.
The global ocean surface temperature for spring was 0.59 degrees F above the 20th century mean of 61.0 degrees F and ranked 10th warmest.
May Highlights
For May 2008, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was 0.81 degrees F above the 20th century mean of 58.6 degrees F and ranked eighth warmest.
The global land surface temperature for May was 1.26 degrees F above the 20th century mean of 52.0 degrees F and ranked seventh warmest.
The global ocean surface temperature for May was 0.65 degrees F above the 20th century mean of 61.3 degrees F and ranked 10th warmest.
Other Highlights
The extent of spring 2008 snow cover over Eurasia was the lowest on record for any spring in the 42-year historical satellite record. Conversely, North American snow cover extent was slightly above average. For the Northern Hemisphere, spring 2008 was the third least extensive spring snow cover.
Continued weakening of La Niña, the cold phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), occurred during May. The ENSO conditions are expected to trend toward neutral conditions during the next two months.
Tropical Cyclone Nargis brought heavy rain, strong winds, and high storm surge waters to Burma (Myanmar) in early May, destroying thousands of homes and killing nearly 78,000 people. Nargis was the most devastating cyclone to strike Asia since 1991 and resulted in the worst natural disaster on record for Burma.
"Earth Gauge": Dry Times
Currently, about 79 percent of the southeast U.S. (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida) is experiencing abnormally dry conditions, with almost fifty percent of the region experiencing at least moderate drought conditions. With limited water resources, it is important to keep water conservation in mind.
Tip: These easy, inexpensive tips will help you create a yard and garden that requires less water - and may even help lower your water bills!
Reduce Container Plantings. These often dry-out quickly, requiring more water than plants grown in-ground. If you do plant in containers, choose drought-tolerant native plants.
Let Your Lawn "Nap." Many lawn grasses are well-adapted to drought, and will go dormant during dry times. Water reserves are sent to the roots, making grass brown - but a brown lawn isn't a dead lawn! Your grass will green-up again when adequate water returns.
Water Wisely. Use a watering can or soaker hose to water garden plants - these tools deposit water close to the soil, reducing the amount of water lost to evaporation.
Wait it Out. New plants require lots of water and attention. Put off any big planting projects until drought conditions improve.
(Sources: US Drought Monitor. June 3, 2008. Southeast; National Wildlife Federation. Backyard Habitat: Ten Steps to Drought-Resistant Gardening.
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Climate Fact: Ice Break-Up Dates and Bears
Polar bears, Earth’s largest land predator, are most common on annual sea ice that sits over shallow seas. This ice provides the bears with a platform from which they can hunt for food. In Canada’s Western Hudson Bay region, which is at the southernmost extent of the polar bear’s range, winter and spring are the best times to hunt, as that is when there is the most ice cover and spring is when the most seals are available. By the time late spring and summer arrive, the Hudson Bay is ice-free, and the bears are essentially stranded from their prey until the ice freezes-up again. The bears must live on their fat reserves during this period, which generally lasts about four months. The earlier the ice breaks up in the spring, the less time the bears have to build fat reserves to survive the hungry periods. Warmer temperatures in the region mean that the ice is now breaking up an average of three weeks earlier than it did 30 years ago, and a correlation exists between the date of the break-up and starvation induced mortality in young and older bears. Overall, the region’s Polar Bear population declined from 1194 in 1987 to 935 in 2004. While healthy adult bears can usually survive the extra stress of earlier ice break-up, years when ice breaks-up especially early generally correspond to more human-bear encounters, as the bears stray from their usual territories to find food.
(Source: Regehr, EV et al. “Effects of Earlier Sea Ice Breakup on Survival and Population Size of Polar Bears in Western Hudson Bay.” The Journal of Wildlife Management 71 (2007): 2673-2683.)
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Climate in the News – Milstein, Michael. "Researchers scramble to deal with dying oysters." – OregonLive, 9 June 2008 -
Changing ocean conditions off the Pacific Northwest coast have led to a population explosion of Vibrio tubiashii, a bacteria that in large enough concentrations is fatal to oysters and other shellfish.
Weather "stories" continue to come out of the storm-plagued Midwest. Click here to see a 15 sec. video taken by one of the boy scouts of the large EF-3 tornado as it approaches the camp...as well as a touching story (from KCCI, Des Moines) about one of the Iowa boys killed.....
I'll be on vacation the week of June 16th & so will this blog. Regular posts will resume June 23rd. "Talking the Tropics With Mike" will continue to be updated daily.
