A University of Maine analysis suggests that global temperatures are setting new records.
Maine State Climatologist Sean Birkel developed a website called the Climate Reanalyzer at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute. A recent temperature chart at the website shows that Monday and Tuesday were the hottest days on the planet since 1979, when the global mean daily temperature estimates were first recorded in the federal dataset the site uses.
Birkel says daily temperatures are less significant than monthly or annual temperatures, and that the data will have to be validated.
"It's an unofficial record," Birkel says, "but events like this highlight that the world is warming and we are seeing more record temperatures."
Birkel says factors driving the trend include the development of an El Niño pattern in the Pacific Ocean and record warmth in the North Atlantic. He says the temperatures are symptomatic of a climate that's warming rapidly due to greenhouse gas emissions.
