NOAA report says 2016 global weather extreme, abnormal

By Seth Borenstein The Associated Press

7 years ago

A street vendor drinks water on a hot afternoon May 27, 2016, on the outskirts of Jammu, India. A new U.S. report says last year’s weather was far more extreme or record breaking than anything approaching normal. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017, released its annual state of the climate 2016 report, highlighting numerous records including hottest year, highest sea level and lowest sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctica. (Channi Anand/File, AP)

The sun sets beyond visitors to Liberty Memorial as the temperature hovers around 100 degrees July 21, 2016, in Kansas City, Missouri. A new U.S. report says last year’s weather was far more extreme or record breaking than anything approaching normal. (Charlie Riedel/File, AP)

A wildfire breaks out May 6, 2016, along a highway about 10 miles south of Fort McMurray, Alberta. (Jonathan Hayward/File, The Canadian Press via AP)

FILE – In this Aug. 26, 2016 file photo, people enjoy the weather near the Louvre Museum in Paris during a hot and sunny day. (Thomas Padilla/File, AP)

A fisherman drives a boat during then-Secretary of State John Kerry’s tour June 17, 2016, of the Jakobshavn Glacier and the Ilulissat Icefjord, near the Arctic Circle in Ilulissat, Greenland. (Evan Vucci/Pool, File, AP)

WASHINGTON — A new report says last year’s global weather was far more extreme or record breaking than anything approaching normal.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday released its annual state of the climate 2016 report, highlighting numerous records including hottest year, highest sea level and lowest sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctica.

The report said the world’s glaciers shrank — for the 37th year in a row — by an average of about 3 feet.

Extreme downpours and droughts were up, as were tropical cyclones. Heat stored in the upper oceans was a near record high.

Report co-editor Deke Arndt says the only normal global measure was snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere.