Record-breaking warmth recorded for US in 2006

The average temperature for the 48 mainland states of the U.S. was the warmest in 2006 since record keeping began 112 years ago, US government weather forecasters reported on Tuesday.

In their preliminary forecast released in mid-December, scientists at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted 2006 as the third warmest year on record, prompting climate experts to express concern about climatic changes.

Scientists said last year seven months were much warmer than average, including December, which was unusually warm and has become the fourth-warmest December since records began in 1895.

Five states, including Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire had their warmest December on record.

Based on an analysis of readings from 1,200 weather stations, average temperature nationwide in 2006 was 55 degrees Fahrenheit or 2.2 degrees (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the 20th Century mean and 0.07 degrees Fahrenheit (0.04 degrees Celsius) warmer than 1998, which held the previous temperature record, NOAA reported.

In a written statement NOAA said that no state was colder than average last month, and average temperatures for all 48 continental states were above or well above average.

The record-breaking warmth was due to both unusual regional weather patterns and the long-term effects of the greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), which are aggrandizing in the atmosphere, the agency said. Many climate experts believe that the unusually warm temperatures could lead to extensive melting of the polar ice caps, resulting in higher sea levels and immoderate droughts and storms.

"People should be concerned about what we are doing to the climate," said Jay Lawrimore, chief of NOAA's climate monitoring branch in Asheville, N.C. "Burning of fossil fuels is causing an increase in greenhouse gases and there's a broad scientific consensus that is producing climate change."

El Nino, an abnormal warming of water in the Pacific Ocean every three or so years that can wreak havoc with global weather patterns, is also partly responsible for the record warmth. It blocked Arctic air from moving across regions of the United States, NOAA said. El Nino, which is Spanish for "the little boy," usually brings warmer weather to much of the United States.

"No one should be surprised that 2006 is the hottest year on record for the U.S.," said Brenda Ekwurzel, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a public interest group. "When you look at temperatures across the globe, every single year since 1993 has been in the top 20 warmest years on record.

"Realistically, we have to start fighting global warming in the next 10 years if we want to secure a safe environment for our children and grandchildren," she said.