Scientists from the US National Climatic Data Center report on September 15, 2011 that this was the fifth warmest summer in the northern hemisphere since record-keeping began 132 years ago, with the National Snow and Ice Data Center also announcing that Arctic sea ice had shrunk to its second lowest extent
on record.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/story/2011-09-15/hot-summer-record/50419070/1
http://www.americanscientist.org/science/pub/the-heat-wasnt-just-in-usa-hemisphere-warmed-to-the-task
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/


Research by the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC, USA, published in the September 14, 2011 issue of Environmental Research Letters revealed that water evaporating from trees and lakes contributes not just to the immediate region, as was previously understood, but aid in the cooling of the entire Earth.  

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-evaporated-trees-cools-global-climate.html
http://news.bioscholar.com/2011/09/evaporated-water-from-vegetation-helps-in-global-cooling.html