NY Times headline forgets to include the key word "contiguous"

2012 Was Hottest Year Ever in U.S. - NYTimes.com

The numbers are in: 2012, the year of a surreal March heat wave, a severe drought in the corn belt and a massive storm that caused broad devastation in the mid-Atlantic states, turns out to have been the hottest year ever recorded in the contiguous United States.
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Scientists said that natural variability almost certainly played a role in last year’s extreme heat and drought. [Ya think?] But many of them expressed doubt that such a striking new record would have been set without the backdrop of global warming caused by the human release of greenhouse gases.
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Even so, the last year’s record for the United States is not expected to translate into a global temperature record when figures are released in coming weeks. The year featured a La Niña weather pattern, which tends to cool the global climate over all, and scientists expect it to be the world’s eighth or ninth warmest year on record.
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For people who escaped both the derecho and Hurricane Sandy relatively unscathed, the year may be remembered most for the sheer breadth and oppressiveness of the summer heat wave.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Study: Alaska got colder from 2000-2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The overwhelming majority of Alaska is getting colder and has been since 2000, according to a study by researchers with the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. But the authors stop short of saying the lower temperatures contradict that idea that the earth, and Alaska in particular, is warming. Instead, they conclude that the findings show a temporary variation.

U.S. experiences warmest and second most extreme weather year ever recorded in 2012 - Capital Weather Gang - The Washington Post

“We’ve entered a stage now, where [the warming trend] is going to be pretty obvious to the man on the street,” Karl said. “[This year’s warmth] doesn’t mean every season and every year will be this warm, but you’re going to see this with increasing frequency.”