Except for a leveling off between the 1940s (WW2) and 1970s (oil embargo), Earth’s surface temperatures have increased since 1880. 1885 is the year the first automobile went into general production. Mmmmmmmm … is there a connection?
The last decade has brought temperatures to the highest levels ever recorded, and the last year of the decade 
(2009) was tied for the second warmest year in the modern record. Although 2008 was the coolest year of the decade, due to strong cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean, 2009 saw a return to near-record global temperatures, despite an unseasonably cool December in much of North America, Europe, and Asia. The year was only a fraction of a degree cooler than 2005, the warmest year on record, and tied with a cluster of other years—1998, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007 1998 and 2007—as the second warmest year since modern recordkeeping began in 1880.
Earth Observatory: 2009 Ends Warmest Decade on Record
Earth Observatory: 2009: Second Warmest Year on Record; End of Warmest Decade
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