The contiguous 48 US states recorded the
hottest year since scientists began collecting temperatures in 1895,
according to a government report Tuesday.
In its annual report, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) said the annual average temperature in 2012 was 12.94 degrees Celsius.
That figure compared to the average temperature of 11.11 degrees
Celsius observed in the previous 117 years. It was also more than
half a degree hotter than the 12.38 degrees Celsius recorded in the
previous record warm year of 1998.
Jake Crouch, a NOAA scientists, told reporters he found the speed
with which temperatures rose "surprising."
"The temperatures are increasing and will keep increasing in the
next years," he told reporters in a telephone briefing.
