The graph and table below shows the number of current all-time record daily maximums held or tied, ranked by year. The current year is not included, because the data is not available yet.
When the data becomes available, it will become clear that the summer of 2012 was not remarkable compared to the summers prior to the 1960s global cooling. That isn’t going to stop the usual suspects from lying about it however.
1936 10011 1934 9704 1939 7743 1931 7424 1930 6862 1933 6808 1953 6589 1925 6567 1954 6338 1911 6206
Tell that to the NY Times.
“SO far 2012 is on pace to be the hottest year on record. But does this mean that we’ve reached a threshold — a tipping point that signals a climate disaster?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/opinion/the-climate-change-tipping-point.html?_r=1&hp
Found this heatwave index for the US squirreled away on the EPA site.