According to climate scientists from NASA and the National Climatic Data Center last year’s temperatures ended in a tie with 2005 as the warmest on record. NASA writes that:

“Global surface temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to an analysis released Wednesday by researchers at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The two years differed by less than 0.018 degrees Fahrenheit. The difference is smaller than the uncertainty in comparing the temperatures of recent years, putting them into a statistical tie. In the new analysis, the next warmest years are 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009, which are statistically tied for third warmest year.”

“If the warming trend continues, as is expected, if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long,” James Hansen, the director of GISS, said.

“The warmth this year reinforces the notion that we are seeing climate change,” said David Easterling, from the National Climatic Data Center.