Last decade (2001-2010): the warmest on record

        Humans have been tracking global climate patterns for over a century.  The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has data on global annual temperature dating back to 1850.  

        Recently, the United Nations (U.N.) and the WMO released a statement on the global climate for the past decade.  It was announced that the past decade (2001-2010) was the warmest in recorded history and that 9 out of the past 10 years have been the warmest individuals years in recorded history.  

        It is important to note that that is not counting 2011, which was recently announced to be the warmest year in recorded history.  

        The 2001-2010 decade, apart from being the warmest in recorded history, was also unusual for high amounts of rain, snowfall and drought.  Extreme weather patterns effected most part of the globe, with severe drought affecting parts of North America and East Africa.

Global annual temperature (1950-2010)

       WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud claimed that "This 2011 annual assessment confirms the findings of the previous WMO annual statements that climate change is happening now and is not some distant future threat.  The world is warming because of human activities and this is resulting in far-reaching and potentially irreversible impacts on our Earth, atmosphere and oceans."

        This report comes after a series of reports that sea levels are rising at unprecedented rates and ocean temperatures have been rising for at least the past 100 years.  The WMO and U.N. will continue to monitor the global climate to attempt to understand which areas of the planet will be most adversely affected by climate change throughout the 21st century.

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