Yes, It's Cold Out There - TODAY

But the next time someone tries to tell you that "global warming stopped in 1998" or "we're in a global cooling trend" you can tell them this from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

The year 2013 ties with 2003 as the fourth warmest year globally since records began in 1880. The annual global combined land and ocean surface temperature was 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F). This marks the 37th consecutive year (since 1976) that the yearly global temperature was above average. Currently, the warmest year on record is 2010, which was 0.66°C (1.19°F) above average. Including 2013, 9 of the 10 warmest years in the 134-year period of record have occurred in the 21st century. Only one year during the 20th century—1998—was warmer than 2013.

Or if NOAA isn't to your liking, you can always go with the slightly different analysis from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration:

NASA scientists say 2013 tied with 2009 and 2006 for the seventh warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures.

With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the warmest years on record.

Or you can show them this handy chart (thanks to thinkprogress) that plots both analyses on the same graph:

See how it moves upward?  That means that it's getting warmer.  Hasn't stopped.

The science deniers out there have two separate but interconnected problems in dealing with this reality.   Either:

• The data is incorrect and the planet isn't warming up as illustrated in the above chart, or
• The data is correct but all the science establishing the reason why it's warming is incorrect.

Each in its own way is extraordinary, considering the mass of evidence countering it.  And as Carl Sagan once said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" so unless the science deniers out there have any evidence that the data is incorrect or the science is incorrect, their argument is less than meaningful.

It's still getting warmer out there.