Global Warming ";Undeniable,"; U.S. Government Report Says

Past decade hottest on record, NOAA study says.

Christine Dell'Amore
National Geographic News

"Global warming is undeniable," and it's happening fast, a new U.S. government report says.

An in-depth analysis of ten climate indicators all point to a marked warming over the past three decades, with the most recent decade being the hottest on record, according to the latest of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's annual "State of the Climate" reports, which was released Wednesday. Reliable global climate record-keeping began in the 1880s.

The report focused on climate changes measured in 2009 in the context of newly available data on long-term developments.

For instance, surface air temperatures recorded from more than 7,000 weather stations around the world over the past few decades confirm an "unmistakable upward trend," the study says.

And for the first time, scientists put data from climate indicators -- such as ocean temperature and sea-ice cover -- together in one place. Their consistency "jumps off the page at you," report co-author Derek Arndt said.

"This is like going to the doctor and getting your respiratory test and circulatory test and your neurosystem test," said Arndt, head of the Climate Monitoring Branch of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

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