This November Was 12th Warmest on Record

Officials at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say that this November had the 12th warmest air temperatures on record, and the third smallest sea ice extent since records began being kept. Sea ice was 11.5 percent below the normal average.

The analysis was compiled by the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC), which also determined that the La Niña ocean-atmosphere phenomenon continued throughout last month. In fact, it is expected to continue well into next year, rather than be replaced by El Niño.

“The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for November was the 12th warmest on record at 55.81ºF (13.35ºC), which is 0.81ºF (0.45vC) above the 20th century average of 55ºF (12.9ºC). The margin of error associated with this temperature is +/- 0.13 F (0.07 C),” NOAA reports.

The new report is part of a suite of scientific, climate-related investigations NOAA is conducting for the US government, various federal agencies, local authorities and business representatives.