Release of the 2009 State of the Climate report

The 2009 State of the Climate report is a comprehensive appraisal of Earth's climate by more than 300 authors from 48 countries and portrays all aspects of the climate system. Observations spanned the atmosphere, land, and ocean from the poles to the equator, and confirm that the past decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.

Based on comprehensive data from multiple sources, the report defines 10 measurable planet-wide features used to gauge global temperature changes. The relative movement of each of these indicators proves consistent with a warming world. Seven indicators are rising: air temperature over land, sea-surface temperature, air temperature over oceans, sea level, ocean heat, humidity and tropospheric temperature in the "active-weather" layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface. Three indicators are declining: Arctic sea ice, glaciers and spring snow cover in the Northern hemisphere.

State of the Climate is published as a special supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society and is edited by D.S. Arndt, M.O. Baringer, and M.R. Johnson.

Additional Information can be found on the following web sites:

NOAA State of the Climate report, summary & supplemental materials http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams-state-of-the-climate/2009.php

NOAA Climate Portal - State of the Climate video http://www.climate.gov/#understandingClimate

NOAA Press release
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100728_stateoftheclimate.html