WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a tie: Last year equaled 2005 as the
warmest year on record, government climate experts reported
Wednesday. The average worldwide temperature was 1.12 degrees
Fahrenheit (0.62 degree Celsius) above normal last year. That’s
the same as six years ago, the National Climatic Data Center
announced. Climate experts have become increasingly concerned
about rising global temperatures over the last century. Most
atmospheric scientists attribute the change to gases released
into the air by industrial processes and gasoline-burning
engines. In addition, the Global Historical Climatology Network
said Wednesday that last year was the wettest on record. Rain
and snowfall patterns varied greatly around the world. “The
warmth this year reinforces the notion that we are seeing
climate change,“ said David Easterling, chief of scientific
services at the climatic data center. Nine of the 10 warmest
years on record have occurred since 2000, he noted. The
exception was 1998, which is the third warmest year o