RSS: 2010 2nd hottest, exceeded by 1998.

2 January, 2011 (19:25) | Data Comparisons Written by: lucia

RSS reported their Dec. 2010 anomaly here. Computing the annual average as the average over Jan-Dec of each year, using this data set, 2010 did not set a new record for warmest calendar year. That honor is retained by 1998 which holds the record for both the highest calendar year average and the highest 12 month average in the RSS record. Both RSS records are held by the period from Jan-Dec. 1998.

The 12 month lagging averages are shown below:

Note: The 12 month average of the multi-model mean values for the surface (not lower troposphere) temperatures based on models driven using the A1B SRES are shown for reference only.