Report: Mass. days of sweltering doubled last year

By Bina Venkataraman, Globe Correspondent

The idea of global warming can seem so big and so complicated – and sometimes, so far off – that it’s difficult for us to envision how we might be affected.

But temperatures are already on the rise here in our state, according to a report released today by Environment Massachusetts. And we will notice the changes in our backyards before long, the report warns.

The advocacy group’s report, based on data collected at 255 weather stations around the country, documents how temperatures over the past several years differ from previous decades. The study did not focus on Massachusetts alone, but found significant signs of warming in the Bay State.

In 2007, Massachusetts had double the number of sweltering days -- with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees – than the historical average. At Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, scientists recorded 12 days with temperatures of 90 and above, seven days more than the average number of these 90-degrees-plus hot days in the years between 1971-2000.

While a single year's worth of weather data typically does not say much about overall climate trends, the report also found that average temperatures in Massachusetts were higher during the first seven years of this century than they have been historically.

The warming here at home coincides with broader trends in the country and globally. 2007 was the second hottest year on record for the planet, and the 10th warmest year on record in the US.

Read the report here.

And to learn more about how global warming will affect where we live, read this series by Globe reporter Beth Daley.