S. Korea sees 5th-hottest year in 2009

SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea recorded its fifth-hottest year in 2009,
with its average temperature of 14 Celsius reflecting the overall trend of global
warming, a report released by the country's weather watchdog said Monday.
The yearly average temperature of six cities scattered across the country --
Seoul, Incheon, Daegu, Gangneung, Mokpo and Busan -- reached 14.02 C in 2009,
according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).
The figures were the fifth-highest since the country first released the
meteorological statistics of those cities in 1912. The all-time high was 14.5 C
in 1998, followed by 14.4 C in 1994, 14.2 C in 2007 and 14.03 C in 2004.
During the 97-year period, the annual temperature has risen 1.7 C on the Korean
Peninsula, the report said.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, the average temperature of
the Earth between January and October this year was 14.44 C, the fifth-warmest
since 1850.
The KMA also said there is a 70-percent chance that the average temperature of
South Korea may top the climatological norm of 6-16 C next year.
There is only a 20 percent possibility of hitting the normal temperature in 2010,
and a 10 percent chance of it going lower, said the KMA.
brk@yna.co.kr
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