The year 2012 was characterized by extreme weather around the world, with some parts of the northern hemisphere hit by multiple extraordinary events between January and October 2012.
They include heat waves in March to May across the US and Europe, and drought that affected nearly two-thirds of the continental US as well as parts of Russia, some Mediterranean countries, China and northern Brazil.
In the UK, one of the hottest, driest March’s on record gave way to the wettest summer in a century, which has caused a series of floods across the country.
The years 2001 to 2011 were all among the warmest on record, and this year looks set to be no exception. This year is on track to be the ninth warmest in records dating back till 1850, with the global temperatures around 0.45°C above the long-term average, based on figures up to October.
After the La Nina weather pattern ended in the Pacific, global land and ocean temperatures rose increasingly above the long-term average, and the six months from May to October were among the four warmest such periods on record.
