Smack in the middle of a La Nina event, which exerts a cooling force global temps, NOAA has measured October as the 8th warmest in the instrumental record.
The globe experienced its eighth warmest October since record keeping began in 1880. Arctic sea ice extent was the second smallest extent on record for October at 23.5 percent below average. Additionally, La Niña conditions strengthened during October 2011. According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, La Niña is expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter.
This monthly analysis from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides government, business and community leaders so they can make informed decisions.
It’s exactly this reason why Tea Party Republicans want to target agencies like NOAA, because when informed decisions are made, they generally don’t fit the fossil fuel industry’s program.
The average Arctic sea ice extent during October was 23.5 percent below average, ranking as the second smallest October extent since satellite records began in 1979.
On the opposite pole, the October Antarctic monthly average ice extent was 1.2 percent above the 1979–2000 average, the 12th largest on record.
Arctic 23 percent below average, Antarctic 1.2 percent above. That disparity is why global sea ice cover continues to drop, apparently oblivious to the climate denial industry. The University of Illinois Cryosphere Today graph shows –
Even more dramatic is the loss of sea ice VOLUME => http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/temperature/arctic_sea_ice_volume_PIOMAS_2011.jpg