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"From its outset, the 2004 meteorological year was a hot one,: according to new results from scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Average global surface temperatures in both December 2003 (the first month of the 2004 meteorological year) and February 2004 were 0.66 degrees Celsius above the long-term average (1951-1980). Overall, 2004 temperatures were 0.48 degrees Celsius above the climatological average. The high temperatures of 2004 make it the fourth hottest year since the late 1800s, the time that most scientists recognize as the start of accurate meteorological record keeping. "