April Was 2nd Warmest Globally; Average for U.S.

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/april-2nd-warmest-globally-average-for-u.s-17433

May 13, 2014
By Andrea Thompson

While April was an uneventful month temperature-wise in the U.S., with most areas experiencing near-average temperatures, the month was the second-warmest April on record globally, according to new NASA data.

That makes April the 350th month in a row — more than 29 years — with above-average temperatures, largely caused by the buildup of manmade greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere.

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According to the latest NASA data, the planet’s average April temperature was 58.5°F — 1.3°F above the average temperature from 1951-1980. That ranks behind only April 2010 in the warmest Aprils on record. In particular, Europe and Asia saw an extremely warm month.

----- [And by 1951, the average temperature was already higher due to human activity.]

The cooler conditions that have prevailed in the eastern portions of the country [U.S.] throughout the winter and into the early spring are linked to warm sea surface temperatures in the northern Pacific Ocean, Crouch said. The sea surface temperatures influenced atmospheric patterns, pushing the jet stream further north in western North America and further south in the East.

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“The contiguous U.S., we cover less than 2 percent of the globe,” Crouch said.

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