2006 was the warmest year on record for US

Last year was the warmest in the continental US in the past 112 years–capping a nine-year warming streak "unprecedented in the historical record" that was driven in part by the burning of fossil fuels, a government agency reported on Jan. 16. According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the record-breaking warmth–which caused daffodils and cherry trees to bloom throughout the East on New Year's Day–was the result of both unusual regional weather patterns and the long-term effects of the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Based on data from 1,200 stations, the average temperature was 55 degrees Fahrenheit, 2.2 degrees above the 112-year average. 2006 surpassed the previous champion, 1998, a year heated up by a powerful episode of the periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean by El Niño. Last year, another El Niño developed, but this time a long-term warming trend was said to be involved as well. "A contributing factor to the unusually warm temperatures throughout 2006 also is the long-term warming trend, which has been linked to increases in greenhouse gases," the release said, emphasizing that the relative contributions of El Niño and the human influence were not known. The mention of global warming in NOAA's press release was the first of its kind for one of NOAA's annual climate reports. "There's been some sensitivity to the fact that some people have complained that NOAA and other parts of the government haven't been as open as they would like to have been on this," said Jay Lawrimore, a climatologist at NCDC. "Now NOAA is making an effort to be clearer on some of the influences." Lawrimore said there was no way to account for the trends, be they the meltimg of Arctic sea ice or the warming of winters, without including an influence from heat-trapping gases. "What we are seeing is much more than El Niño," said climate analyst Kevin Trenberth at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. "The overall pattern is consistent with our concepts of global warming." Lawrimore said other NOAA research has found that the rate of temperature increase has been significantly greater in the past 30 years than at any time since the government started collecting national temperature data in 1895. Globally, 2005 was the hottest year on record, Lawrimore said, and 2006 was slightly cooler. He said that although there is a scientific consensus that carbon dioxide from cars, power plants and factories is leading to global warming, there is no consensus yet on whether the warming will increase more quickly or more slowly in the future. Some researchers have predicted that temperatures worldwide will increase by a catastrophic 7 to 8 degrees on average by the end of the century, while others project an increase of a more modest 2 degrees by century's end. Richard Heim, a researcher at NCDC said that the agency does not address possible causes for the unusually warm temperatures, but added that the acceleration in warming is unmistakable. According to the NOAA report, temperatures have been well above average for the last nine consecutive years, with each of those years among the 25 warmest years on record in the US–an unprecedented hot streak historically. Lawrimore said the consequences of continued warming will be extensive. "We expect droughts to become more severe and more widespread; we expect heavier precipitation events to become frequent; heat waves will become more frequent; storm surges will be higher. Being able to adapt to changing climate will become an important part of daily life." In last year's temperature extremes, the country got a preview of the future of climate change. Last summer, at least half of the country was parched by prolonged drought as the lack of rain helped fuel a record wildfire season in which 9.8 million acres burned in more than 96,000 wildfires. At the same time, a severe heat wave in some areas, with temperatures as high as 117 degrees, killed at least 225 people nationwide. Now, in the cold season, farmers in the Northeast are worried that temperatures are too high for fruit trees to winter properly, and wineries are complaining that they can't prepare ice wine because their grapes won't freeze on the vine. Such warming also can have devastating ecological consequences as well. Experts have begun to notice that short-lived "weed" species adapt much more quickly to climate change than longer lived species, and throughout the eastern US this winter, the natural cycles of many animals and plants have been confused by the warmer temperatures.