Things are getting hotter around here.

[trottigy]

2011: world’s 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña on record, second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent

http://www.wmo.int/pages/mediacentre/press_releases/gcs_2011_en.html

At present, 2011’s nominal value ranks as the equal 10th highest on record, and the 13 warmest years have all occurred in the 15 years between 1997 and 2011.

Arctic sea ice extent was again well below normal in 2011. After tracking at record or near-record low levels for the time of year through the first half of 2011, the seasonal minimum, reached on 9 September, was 4.33 million square kilometres (35% below the 1979-2000 average). This was the second-lowest seasonal minimum on record, 0.16 million square kilometres above the record low set in 2007. Unlike the 2007 season, both the Northwest and Northeast Passages were ice-free for periods during the 2011 summer.