Global Lukewarming: Another Good Intellectual Year (2012 Edition) | Paul C. "Chip" Knappenberger | Cato Institute

Global Lukewarming: Another Good Intellectual Year (2012 Edition) | Paul C. "Chip" Knappenberger | Cato Institute: "I am sure that most readers are already aware that in the U.S. the annual average temperature was the highest ever recorded (since 1895). But the U.S. makes up only about 2% of the globe and such small areas, especially located in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics, are subject to large regional variations.

Figure 1 shows the pattern of annual average temperature anomalies across the globe in 2012. Notice that the contiguous U.S. happens to be in the bulls-eye of higher than average temperatures. If you spent 2012 in Alaska, you’d probably be wondering what all the fuss was about, because there the state experienced its 11th coldest year on record (since 1918)."