Environment

Global Hottest and Coldest Temperatures

The week's hottest temperature was 115.3 degrees Fahrenheit (46.3 degrees Celsius) at Mardie, Western Australia.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 68.3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 55.8 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Siberian outpost of Oiymakon.

Temperatures were tabulated from the more than 10,000 worldwide synoptic weather stations. The United Nations World Meteorological Organization sets the standards for weather observations, and provides a global telecommunications circuit for data distribution.

_________________________________________

U.S. Greenhouse Emissions Drop to 20-Year Low

Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. fell to their lowest levels since 1994 last year, with greenhouse gas emissions from the country’s power plants seeing a 4.6 percent drop for 2012 alone.

Overall CO2 emissions fell by 13 percent over the past five years as new energy-saving technologies were adopted, including a switch from coal to wind, solar and cleaner-burning natural gas.

Geothermal and hydroelectric sources also helped reduce air pollution.

But America got 31 percent of its energy from natural gas, which came about due to an explosive use of fracking.

America’s improvement in greenhouse gas emissions is offset by the burst in air pollution being generated in developing countries such as China.