Air and Water Temperature Increases

Observations compiled by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) indicate that over the past century, temperatures rose across the contiguous United States at an average rate of 0.11 °F per decade (1.1 °F per century). Average temperatures rose at an increased rate of 0.56 °F per decade from 1979 to 2005. As indicated by the red and pink colors in the graphic, warming occurred throughout most of the United States, with all but 3 of the 11 climate regions showing an increase of more than 1 °F since 1901. The greatest temperature increase occurred in Alaska (3.3 °F per century). The Southeast experienced a very slight cooling trend over the entire period (-0.04 °F per century) indicated by the light blue color, but warming within this region has occurred since 1979.

According to the IPCC, all of North America is very likely to warm during this century, and the annual mean warming is likely to exceed the global mean warming in most areas…warming in the United States is expected to exceed two degrees Celsius (3.6 °F) by nearly all models (IPCC, 2007c).

Reference:

IPCC. 2007c. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, and M. Manning (eds.)], accessed August 31, 2009.

Graphic Reference:

NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC, as found in EPA. 2008v. Climate Change Web site. Climate Change—Science: Temperature Changes, accessed August 31, 2009.