2008 is the coldest since the beginning of the century

Earth's climate in 2008 was determined to be the coldest since 2000, but this is still one of the 10 hottest years in history since meteorological data are recorded.

Semmering ski area of ​​Austria in early winter 2008. Photo: Quang Minh.

Many theories suggest that La Nina's influence may make the earth colder in the next few years. A recent analysis also stated that in the next decade, the earth will not heat up. However, scientists opposed this idea.

NASA Space Research Institute (GISS) identified 2008 as the coldest year since 2000 to date. But the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), after summarizing data from two UK and US climate monitoring agencies, concluded that 2008 was still among the 10 hottest years in history. The average temperature this year is 14.3 degrees Celsius, higher than the average temperature in 1961-1990, the standard reference level.

The 10 hottest years in history

1998 - 14.52 degrees Celsius
2005 - 14.48 degrees Celsius
2003 - 14.46 degrees Celsius
2002 - 14.46 degrees Celsius
2004 - 14.43 degrees Celsius
2006 - 14.42 degrees Celsius
2007 - 14.40 degrees Celsius
2001 - 14.40 degrees Celsius
1997 - 14.36 degrees Celsius
2008 - 14.31 degrees Celsius

The temperature in 2008 was also higher than about 0.7 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrialization period. Peter Stott, head of the watchdog at the Hadley Center (UK), said that compared to the previous decades, 2008 was easily considered unusually hot. GISS itself also indicated that this year ranked 9th among the hottest years since 1880.

The hottest year in history is still 1998, when the impact of El Nino and the increase of greenhouse gas emissions have caused the annual average temperature to reach 14.5 degrees C.

Scientist John Christy also agreed that the earth's atmosphere has warmed about 0.4 degrees Celsius in the past 30 years. His research team at the University of Alabama, USA, conducted weather-balloon research studies. "If you look at the 30-year chart, it's easy to see the trend of global warming after the arrival of El Nino in 1997-98," Professor Christy said.

The influence of El Nino and La Nina is one reason why scientists are concerned about the average temperature over a 10-year period. It shows the whole world climate trend for a long time. On average, the temperature in the decade from 1990-1999 was 0.23 degrees higher than the reference level (1961-1990), while the temperature during 2000-2008 was higher than the reference level of 0.4 degrees. C.