Satellite images taken on July 28, 2010, left, and Aug. 5, 2010, show before and after a giant ice island broke away from the Petermann Glacier in Northern Greenland. The island measured 100 square miles. NASA via AP

WASHINGTON, June 28 (MSNBC) – It’s been more than 300 months since the average global average temperature was below average, scientists and the U.S. government said in the annual State of the Climate report released Tuesday. The experts tracked 41 climate indicators during 2010, four more than in the previous year, and “they all show a continued tendency,” said Tom Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center. “The indicators show unequivocally that the world continues to warm.” “There is a clear and unmistakable signal from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans,” added Peter Thorne of the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites at North Carolina State University. Carbon dioxide increased by 2.60 parts per million in the atmosphere in 2010, which is more than the average annual increase seen from 1980-2010, Karl said. Carbon dioxide is the major greenhouse gas accumulating in the air that atmospheric scientists blame for warming the climate. The warmer conditions are consistent with events such as heat waves and extreme rainfall, Karl said at a teleconference. However, it is more difficult to make a direct connection with things like tornado outbreaks, he said. “Any single weather event is driven by a number of factors, from local conditions to global climate patterns and trends. Climate change is one of these,” he said. “It is very likely that large-scale changes in climate, such as increased moisture in the atmosphere and warming temperatures, have influenced — and will continue to influence — many different types of extreme events, such as heavy rainfall, flooding, heat waves and droughts. The report, published by the American Meteorological Society, lists 2010 as tied with 2005 for the warmest year on record, according to studies by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA. A separate analysis, done in Britain, lists 2010 as second warmest. Deke Arndt, chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at NCDC, noted that every month since early 1985 has been warmer than the 20th century average for the month.  […]
“The arctic is changing faster that most of the rest of the world,” added Walt Meier, a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado. “This has long been expected.” In addition, he said, the September Arctic sea ice extent was the third smallest in 30 years, older, thicker sea ice is disappearing, there is a shorter duration of snow cover, and the permafrost is melting. […] Other findings of the report:

  • Alpine glaciers shrank for the 20th consecutive year.
  • Even with a moderate-to-strong La Niña during the latter half of the year, which is associated with cooler equatorial waters in the tropical Pacific, the 2010 average global sea surface temperature was third warmest on record and sea level continued to rise.
  • Oceans were saltier than average in areas of high evaporation and fresher than average in areas of high precipitation, suggesting that the water cycle is intensifying. […]

Report: 25 years since global temps were below average