GISS 2007 Temperature Analysis
The year 2007 tied for second warmest in the period of instrumental data, behind the
record warmth of 2005, in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) analysis. 2007 tied
1998, which had leapt a remarkable 0.2°C above the prior record with the help of the “El Nino of
the century”. The unusual warmth in 2007 is noteworthy because it occurs at a time when solar
irradiance is at a minimum and the equatorial Pacific Ocean is in the cool phase of its natural El
Nino – La Nina cycle.
Figure 1 shows 2007 temperature anomalies relative to the 1951-1980 base period mean.
The global mean temperature anomaly, 0.57°C (about 1°F) warmer than the 1951-1980 mean,
continues the strong warming trend of the past thirty years that has been confidently attributed to
the effect of increasing human-made greenhouse gases (GHGs)
(
http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2007/2007_Hansen_etal_1.pdf ). The eight warmest years in the
GISS record have all occurred since 1998, and the 14 warmest years in the record have all
occurred since 1990.
