So That's Where The Heat Was

Jeff Masters at Weather Underground posted this last week:

Second warmest June on record
The globe recorded its second warmest June on record, 0.02°C short of the record set in 2005, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The period January - June was the fifth warmest such period on record. Global temperature records go back to 1880. The most notable warmer-than-average temperatures were recorded across parts of Africa and most of Eurasia, where temperatures were 3°C (5°F) or more above average.

That said, I thought, we sure haven't had any kind of above average anything this year around here. As I wrote this last week we were setting a new record- coldest high temp for that day in July. Then all the unbelievers in climate change are quick to say- See. It ain't happenin'.

Which of course is the problem with only a small local window to look through. Jeff also posted a NOAA map showing the temp anomalies world wide in June:


While the map is a little small, it is easy to see that the red areas way out-number the blue.The blue even seem to go in NW to SE bands and the biggest in the northern hemisphere sit on the mid-continent areas; one of which st right over the American/Canadian northern heartland- like here in Minnesota.

Such graphics may not prove or disprove anything, but they are interesting and instructive. And, to repeat, they remind us that our local mini-climates may not be the best things to base our observations on about the world.