world simmers in hottest year so far, page-2

"I prefer to believe the scientists, because that's what they do...

...as distinct from kitchen window observations from Wagga Wagga or wherever."

You may well want to believe the scientists, but you best not believe the media.
Firstly, scientists do not use the imperial system for measurement, they use ISO Metric, even American scientists have done so for decades.
Secondly, the USA thinks they are the world.
But lets not digress from the facts that mean temperatures are indeed up across the globe.

Here is something a little more closer to home (and more relevant).

BOM: Australian Annual Climate Statement 2009

However, if we look at the last month in southern Australia, we see that temperatures have been a few degrees below the mean.
Monthly mean temperature anomaly for Australia

As I recall there was a day or two recently in Alice Springs where the maximum temperature was only 6°C. Now that's cold, and I always thought Ballarat(Victoria) was the coldest place on earth. :-]

--Dan