United States

NASA weather analysis found 2010 tied 2005 for the title of warmest year on record, according to an analysis released on Wednesday by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).

The analysis collected weather data from more than 1,000 meteorological stations around the world. Satellite observations of sea surface temperature and Antarctic research station's measurements were included in the research.

The difference recorded was less than 0.018 degree Fahrenheit between the two years. A statistical tie was found because the difference is smaller than the uncertainty in comparing the temperatures in past years. Several years shared close temperature relations following as the next warmest years, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Scientists use long term trends to measure climate change, and records for this analysis have been documented since 1880. The analysis found that 2010 was approximately 1.34 degrees F higher than the average global surface temperature between 1951-1980. The climate has warmed by an estimated 0.36 degrees F per decade.

The global temperatures continued to rise. The Goddard Institute for Space Studies shows that 2010 tied with 2005 as the warmest year on record. Credit: NASA/Earth Observatory/Robert Simmon.

The title for warmest year 2010 is a significant finding because of the strong La Nina conditions experienced in the last half of the year.

La Nina is a cooling of the surface water of the eastern and central Pacific oceans when the Pacific trade winds blow more strongly and push the sun-warmed surface water farther west. As a result, cooler sea surface temperatures are seen in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

The correlation of the decline of Arctic sea ice may be a link to the warm temperatures along northern latitudes. Arctic sea ice plays a vital role in insulating the atmosphere from the ocean's heat.

If the amount of Arctic sea ice is compromised, then the heat released enters the atmosphere, resulting in increased surface temperatures.

AccuWeather's senior meteorologist Brett Anderson said, "The Arctic region has experienced the most rapid warming on the planet in recent decades. It is also important to remember that surface winds also play an important role in preserving the health of Arctic sea ice."

Photo courtesy of Photos.com

Since the past two winters have been unusually cold, scientists have begun questioning the connection to sea ice changes and the direct effect on surface temperatures. The loss of the ice may be pushing arctic air into middle latitudes, resulting in the unusually cold temperatures.

"One possibility is that the heat source due to open waters in Hudson Bay affected Arctic wind patterns with a see-saw pattern that has arctic air downstream pouring into Europe," Hansen said in an issue of Reviews of Geophysics.

Last year was the 34th consecutive year that global temperatures were above the century average.

NOAA also agrees that 2010 was the warmest year along with 2005 on record. They confirm that 2010 was also the wettest year on record in terms of global average precipitation.