World May Record Warmest Year as U.K. Meteorological Office Adjusts Data

World temperatures in 2010 may be the warmest on record, the U.K. Met Office said, as it plans to calibrate a decade of data to account for newer sensors.

The average temperature for the year through October shows 2010 will be one of the two warmest years in a series that goes back to 1850, said Vicky Pope, head of climate science at the Met Office. Scientists at the agency are preparing to revise data since 2000 to adjust for a new method that masked some of the rising temperature trend, she said.

Nine climate indicators, from temperatures in the lower atmosphere and humidity to rising sea levels, declining sea ice and shrinking glaciers all point toward a warming climate, according to a report today from the agency, which compiles one of the three main time series of global temperatures.  Read more.