Science of…Freeze

According to official numbers, 2008 is the coldest year on record since 2000 (and it is still .05 degrees Celsius warmer than seasonal averages) because of the influence of La Nina cooling pattern in the Pacific Ocean.

And winter has been brutal so far, with temperatures dropping to record low levels. The cold in the upper Midwest and East coast this week is just the latest in a string of frigid storms coast to coast. (And all this is happening during a solar miniumum.)

Just in: From University of Alabama, Huntsville, December 2008 temperatures (preliminary)

Global composite temp.: +0.18 C (about 0.32 degrees Fahrenheit) above
20-year average for December.

Northern Hemisphere: +0.41 C (about 0.74 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year
average for December.

Southern Hemisphere: -0.05 C (about 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit) below 20-year
average for December.

November temperatures (revised):
Global Composite: +0.25 C above 20-year average
Northern Hemisphere: +0.34 C above 20-year average
Southern Hemisphere: +0.16 C above 20-year average

(All temperature variations are based on a 20-year average (1979-1998) for
the month reported.)

Notes on data released Jan. 12, 2009:

The eleventh warmest global December in 31 years was also the fifth warmest
in the Northern Hemisphere, according to Dr. John Christy, a professor of
atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center (ESSC)
at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. At the same time, the Southern
Hemisphere saw its tenth coolest of the past 31 Decembers.

WARMEST DECEMBERS, NH
2003 +0.62 C
2006 +0.54 C
1987 +0.52 C
1998 +0.42 C
2008 +0.41 C
2005 +0.40 C

Since November 1978, the Northern Hemisphere atmosphere has warmed more than
three times as fast as the Southern Hemisphere atmosphere (+0.19 C to +0.06
C per decade).

With a global average temperature that was 0.05 C warmer than seasonal
norms, 2008 goes into the books as the coolest year since 2000. Global
temperatures during 2008 were influenced by a La Nina Pacific Ocean cooling
event.

Another La Nina appears to be forming in the Pacific, which could chill
temperatures through 2009.

Color maps of temperature anomalies available on-line at:
http://climate.uah.edu/

If you are out in real cold–say when it’s 11 or 12 below zero–here are few experiments you can do to stay warm.

Bryan Wunar visits from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago to share some great experiments in the cold.