Quote from jem:
while this would not be surprising since we know cities are warming - can you really prove what you posted above. Isn't the choice of data points a big concern?
I suspect the world is warming... but the critique about the conclusions being made by scientists is that they are scubbing the data to prove their thesis.
NOAA: 2010 Hottest Year on Record So Far
Posted: 06-16-10 05:04 PM
Continuing the trend from the previous month, NOAA reports that May, the period from March to May, and from January to May all have had the hottest combined global land and ocean surface temperatures since records began in 1880.
Temperature highlights for May 2010 include:
May's combined global land and ocean surface temperature was 0.69°C above the 20th century average of 14.8°C, with land temps being 1.04°C above the average.
Ocean temperatures were the second warmest on record, coming in behind the 1998 record, with global ocean temps being 0.55°C above the average for the past century of 16.3°C.
As can be seen in the chart above, the warmest temperature variations occurred in eastern North America, eastern Brazil, Eastern Europe, southern Asia, eastern Russia, and equatorial Africa. NOAA data shows anomalously cool conditions in western North America, northern Argentina, interior Asia, and Western Europe. Bucking the trend, Germany had its coolest May since 1991 and the 12th coolest May on record.
More info: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration