Climate change is going to have a number of unpredictable effects, but here’s we know: it’s going to keep getting warmer. We saw that in 2012, which is on track to be the hottest year globally on record, going back well into the 19th century. The winter was particularly hot—normally snowbound parts of the U.S. like Minnesota and North Dakota experienced days of mild temperatures. By the summertime, it was miserable—July was the hottest single month ever in the U.S., which only intensified an unusually brutal drought. The year just past will almost certainly be a record-breaking year—but don’t expect that record to stay unbroken for long.
Science & Space
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7. 2012 on Track to Be the Warmest Year on Record
Full List
Top 10 Green Stories
- 10. Superstorm Sandy Brings Climate Change Home
- 9. Offshore Oil Drilling Begins in the Arctic
- 8. Climate Change Goes Missing in the 2012 Election
- 7. 2012 on Track to Be the Warmest Year on Record
- 6. Arctic Sea Ice Melts to Record Low Levels
- 5. The Battle Over Keystone XL
- 4. The U.S. Oil Boom
- 3. California Puts a Cap on Carbon
- 2. The Battle to Label GM Foods
- 1. The Great Midwest Drought
Top 10 New Species
- 10. Prehistoric Crocodile
- 9. The Galapagos Deep-Sea Cat Shark
- 8. The Auburn Tiger Trapdoor Spider
- 7. Ancient Rodents in Chilean Grasslands
- 6. Peruvian Porcupine
- 5. Peruvian Small-Eared Shrew
- 4. The Congolese Cercopithecus Lomamiensis Monkey
- 3. Parrot-Headed, Big-Fanged Porcupine Dinosaur
- 2. Big-Fanged Jumping Spider
- 1. Peruvian Night Monkey
Top 10 Space Moments
- 10. The Moon Implicated in the Sinking of the Titanic
- 9. NASA Gets Two New Hubbles–For Free
- 8. Nanoparticles in the Moon’s Soil
- 7. North Korea’s Satellite Flop
- 6. Geysers on Mars
- 5. Ocean on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
- 4. Discovery of Earthlike Planet Around Alpha Centauri
- 3. Dawn Spacecraft Geads Off to Ceres
- 2. Dragon Spacecraft Docks with International Space Station
- 1. Curiosity Rover Lands on Mars