2010 Ties for Warmest Year on Record

Even an unusually cold December in many places could not prevent 2010 from tying 2005 as the warmest year on record, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). According to this report in USA Today, the global mean temperature in 2010 was 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the twentieth-century average, marking the 34th consecutive year in which the annual global mean temperature exceeded that average.