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Global warming records surpassed

24 May 2010 07:31 (UTC +04:00)

Past temperature records have tumbled. The warming is consistent with climate change predictions, Green Left Weekly reported.

Victoria and Tasmania had their hottest 12-month period recorded, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on May 3. Victoriaâ€™s weather was warmer than average month-by-month for year to April. Tasmania was warmer for 11 of the 12 months.

The average mean temperature for Victoria was 15.35Âº Celsius â€” 0.11ÂºC higher than the previous Victorian record set between February 2007 and January 2008. Tasmaniaâ€™s high broke a 20-year temperature record. The BOM said the Australia-wide mean temperature for the same period was the third highest recorded at 22.69ÂºC â€” 0.88ÂºC above the average.

On May 17, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that April was the worldâ€™s hottest month since records began in 1880. It found the global combined land and water surface temperature for the month averaged 14.5Â°C. This was the warmest ever â€” 0.76Â°C above the 20th century average of 13.7ÂºC.

The NOAA also said the average world temperatures for January to April were also the warmest recorded for the period.