"The decade ending in 2009 was the warmest on record, new surface temperature figures released Thursday by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration show.

The agency also found that 2009 was the second warmest year since 1880, when modern temperature measurement began. The warmest year was 2005. The other hottest recorded years have all occurred since 1998, NASA said.

James E. Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said that global temperatures varied because of changes in ocean heating and cooling cycles. 'When we average temperature over 5 or 10 years to minimize that variability,' said Dr. Hansen, one of the world’s leading climatologists, 'we find global warming is continuing unabated.'"

John M. Broder reports for the New York Times January 21, 2010. [2]

See Also:

"2000s Warmest Decade on Record, Government Reports" (AP) [3]

"Report: '00s Were Globe's Warmest Decade on Record" (USA TODAY) [4]

"IBD Falsely Claimed That 'The Earth Hasn't Been Warming'" (Media Matters) [5]

NOAA Release of January 21, 2010 [6]

NASA Release of January 21, 2010 [7]