NOAA: 1997 warmest year of century

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says 1997 was the world's warmest year of this century, based on land and ocean surface temperature data. A team at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., reported land and sea temperatures averaged 0.75° F. above normal. For land temperatures, normal was defined by the mean temperature of 61.7° for 1961-90. The 1997 level exceeded the previous record, set in 1990, by 0.15°.