1997 is Hottest Year on Record

Richard Kerr, in the 16 January 1998 issue of Science Magazine (vol. 279, p 315-316), reports that measurements show 1997 to be the hottest year of the century. The strong El Nino of 1997 helped to raise global temperatures by 0.08 degrees C above those of 1990 and 1995 which previously were tied for the distinction of being the warmest years on record (global temperatures can be estimated from measured values for about 140 years). Data from the National Climatic Data Center show that 9 of the last 11 years have been warmer than any previous years on record. James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City has estimated warming effects of greenhouse gases and cooling effects from stratospheric ozone depletion, sunspot fluctuations, and ocean absorption of excess heat, and he contends that the cooling effects will subside in the next few years, raising the prospects for an acceleration of global warming due to continuing increases in greenhouse gases.

E. S. Takle
01/21/98