Global Temperature Report – October 2008

Global trend since Nov. 16, 1978:
+0.13 C per decade
October temperatures (preliminary)
Global composite temp.:
+0.17 C (about 0.31° Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for October.
Northern Hemisphere:
+0.26 C (about 0.47° Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for October.
Southern Hemisphere:
+0.07 C (about 0.13° Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for October.
September temperatures (revised):
Global Composite:
+0.16 C above 20-year average
Northern Hemisphere:
+0.22 C above 20-year average
Southern Hemisphere:
+0.11 C above 20-year average
(All temperature variations are based on a 20-year average (1979-1998) for
the month reported.)
As part of an ongoing joint project between The University of Alabama in
Huntsville, NOAA and NASA, Dr. John Christy, director of the Earth System
Science Center (ESSC) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Dr.
Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist in the ESSC, use data gathered
by microwave sounding units on NOAA and NASA satellites to get accurate
temperature readings for almost all regions of the Earth.
This includes remote desert, ocean and rain forest areas for which reliable
climate data are not otherwise available. The satellite-based instruments
measure the temperature of the atmosphere from the surface up to an altitude
of about eight kilometers above sea level.
Once the monthly temperature data is collected and processed, it is placed
in a “public” computer file for immediate access by atmospheric scientists
in the U.S. and abroad.
Neither Spencer nor Christy receives any research support or funding from
oil, coal or industrial companies or organizations, or from any private or
special interest groups. All of their climate research funding comes from
state and federal grants or contracts.