Climate Assessment for 2001

Abstract Global temperatures in 2001 were 0.51°C (0.92°F) above the long-term (1880-2000) average, which places 2001 as the second warmest year in the 122-year instrumental record. Land temperatures were 0.75°C (1.35°F) above average and oceantemperatures were 0.40°C (0.72°F) above the 1880-2000 mean. This ranks them as the second and third warmest on record, respectively. The Northern Hemisphere temperature continued to average near record levels in 2001 at 0.60°C(1.08°F) above the long-term average. The Southern Hemisphere also reflects the globally warmer conditions, with a positive anomaly of 0.43°C (0.77°F). Annual anomalies in excess of 1.0°C (1.8°F) were widespread across North America and much of Europe and the Middle East, while significantly cooler than average conditions were confined to western Australia, the northeast and northwestPacific Ocean, and the far southeastern region of the Pacific, near coastal Chile. Although no hurricanes made landfall in the United States for the second consecut...