Global Warming Reports

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Executive Summary

In 2006, Americans experienced a summer heat wave that broke records from coast to coast and killed almost 200 people. The year ended and 2007 began with teh warmest winter on record globally. This unseasonably warm weather is part of a long-term trend toward rising temperatures and extreme weather events resulting from global warming.

To examine recent temperature patterns in the United States, Environment New Mexico Research & Policy Center compared temperature data for the years 2000 through 2006 from 255 weather stations located in all 50 states and Washington, DC with temperatures averaged over the 30 years spanning 1971-2000, or what scientists call the “normal” temperature. New Mexico data included information from three weather stations located in Albuquerque, Clayton and Roswell.

Key findings for New Mexico include:

• In 2006, the average temperature was 1.4°F above normal in Albuquerque. In Clayton and Roswell, New Mexico the average temperature was 2.3°F and 1.8°F above average, respectively. Nationally, the average 2006 temperature was at least 0.5°F above normal at 87% of the locations studied.

• Albuquerque, Clayton and Roswell experienced average minimum temperatures — the lowest temperatures recorded on a given day, usually at night — of 2.8°F, 1.3°F and 1.9°F above normal, respectively, in 2006 and 3°F, 2.6°F and 2.9°F above normal during the 2006 summer. Warmer nighttime temperatures exacerbate the public health effects of heat waves, since people need cooler nighttime temperatures to recover from excessive heat exposure during the day.