On Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed what NASA had stated last week in a separate report: This past Spring, global surface temperatures had risen to record levels. Worse, the report goes on to say that other temperature records are toppling, conditions consistent with an increase of greenhouse gas emissions leading to long-term warming trends.

In the report, NOAA says:

• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for May 2010 was 0.69 C (1.24 F) above the 20th century average of 14.8 C (58.6 F). This is the warmest such value on record since 1880.

• For March–May 2010, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was 14.4 C (58.0F) — the warmest March-May on record. This value is 0.73 C (1.31 F) above the 20th century average.

• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January–May 2010 was the warmest on record. The year-to-date period was 0.68 C (1.22 F) warmer than the 20th century average.

• The worldwide ocean surface temperature for May 2010 was the second warmest May on record, behind 1998, 0.55 C (0.99 F) above the 20th century average of 16.3 C (61.3 F).

• The seasonal (March–May 2010) worldwide ocean surface temperature was the second warmest such period on record, 0.55 C (0.99 F) above the 20th century average of 16.1 C (61.0 F).

• The global land surface temperatures for May and the March–May period were the warmest on record, at 1.04 C (1.87 F) and 1.22 C (2.20 F) above the 20th century average, respectively.

• In the Northern Hemisphere, both the May 2010 average temperature for land areas, and the hemisphere as a whole (land and ocean surface combined), represented the warmest May on record. The Northern Hemisphere ocean temperature was the second warmest May on record. The average combined land and ocean surface temperature for the Northern Hemisphere was also record warmest for the March–May period.

• El Niño ended during May 2010. Sea surface temperature anomalies in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean cooled below the El Niño threshold, signifying a return to ENSO-neutral conditions. According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, sea surface cooling could result in a La Niña during the Northern Hemisphere summer 2010.

I’m not particularly invested in being right about Global Warming and, in fact, I hope I’m dead wrong. I would not mind at all if, in 10 or 20 years, some right-wing Global Warming denier laughed in my face and pointed out what a paranoid, tree-hugging fool I was for believing in Global Warming.

Unfortunately, the science is clear and continues to become clearer: The planet is heating up and humans are the reason for that.