The drought has had a negative impact on corn in Le Roy, Illinois. The hottest year on record is expected to drive up food prices by 2013 due to lower crop harvests.
A calf strains for mother's milk as they forage amid dry wheat husks on the Becker farm August 24 in Logan, Kansas.
Farmer Darren Becker sifts through arid topsoil under a ruined crop on the family farm on August 24 in Logan, Kansas.
Rancher Gary Wollert pauses before heading out for work on August 23 near Eads, Colorado. The nation's severe drought has been especially hard on cattlemen. Much of eastern Colorado and virtually all of Nebraska and Kansas are still in extreme or exceptional drought, according to the University of Nebraska's Drought Monitor.
A billboard, "Jesus in the Wheat," stands alongside Interstate 70 on August 24 in Colby, Kansas. The billboard was erected by local residents Tuffy and Linda Taylor. "We just put it up there to minister," Linda Taylor told the Hays Daily News.
A boat dock is left high and dry at the Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Indiana, on August 16, where water depths are significantly lower than average because of a widespread drought.
Fish remains bake in the heat in an area that is usually underwater at the Morse Reservoir in Indiana.
President Obama inspects a drought-stricken area of Missouri Valley, Iowa, with corn farmer Roger McIntosh on August 13 as he campaigns in the area. Since mid-June, corn prices have risen about 60% because of declining crop yields.
Heat and drought have destroyed corn yields.
A car kicks up dust as it drives by corn fields on dry dirt road in State Center, Iowa.
Jeremy Tilton adds hay to a feed mixer for cattle he raises on pastureland near Cuba, Illinois.
A tractor cuts down corn in a field designated as zero-yield on a farm in Vigo County, Indiana, on Tuesday, July 31. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared more than half the counties in the country natural disaster areas as drought sears millions of acres of pasture and cropland.
A field of dead corn sits next to the Lincolnland Agri-Energy ethanol plant in Palestine, Illinois, on Wednesday, July 25.
An employee stocks dairy products at a supermarket in New York on Wednesday, July 25. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said prices of dairy products like cheese, milk and eggs are expected to rise 2% to 3% because of the drought.
Corn stalks struggle to survive in a drought-stricken farm field on Thursday, July 19, near Oakton, Indiana. The corn and soybean belt in the middle of the nation is experiencing one of the worst droughts in more than five decades.
A field of corn shows the effects of the drought on a farm near Fritchton, Indiana, on Wednesday, July 17.
Farmer Ed Schoenberg and his son harvest oats early in attempt to salvage their drought damaged crop near Burlington, Wisconsin, on July 17.
Corn is watered with an irrigation system near Fritchton, Indiana, on July 17.
A single stalk of corn grows in a drought-stricken field near Shawneetown, Illinois, on July 16.
Brown and dry, a field of corn sturggles to survive drought conditions near Uniontown, Kentucky, on July 16.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn examines a drought-damaged ear of corn near Waltonville, Illinois, on July 16.
A weed grows thorugh the dried and cracked earth where a pond used to br near Ashley, Illinois, on July 16.
Farmer Marion Kujawa looks over a dried-up pond where his cattle used to water, near Ashley, Illinois, on July 16. Kujawa is digging the pond deeper so that the water will last longer in the future.
Farmer Albert Walsh walks through his drought-damaged corn field in Carmi, Illnois, on July 11.
The drought plaguing the Midwest has taken a harsh toll on America's corn crops, such as this one in Grayville, Illinois.
Swimmers relax in the shallow waters of the Mississippi River at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in Tennessee on July 6. Drought conditions have lowered the river's levels considerably from this time last year.
Fish skeletons line the bottom of a drainage ditch in Skelton, Indiana, on July 12.
Soybean seedlings push their way through dry soil in Skelton, Indiana, on July 12.
Cattle graze in a field on July 13 near Paris, Missouri. Many ranchers are rushing to sell off their herds as hay supplies dwindle and feed prices soar.
Cracked, dry ground marks the area where a pond normally stands in Crossville, Illinois, on July 11.
Brown corn stalks stand in a drought-stricken field on July 11 in Carmi, Illinois.
- 2012 ranks as the globe's 10th warmest since 1880, when record keeping began
- Last year was the warmest year ever for the contiguous United States
- The 12 years of new century rank among the 14 warmest in the past 133 years
- With no snow, Minnesota delays a sled dog race; musher blames global warming
(CNN) -- The year 2012 was declared the globe's 10th warmest since record keeping began in 1880 and the warmest ever for the Lower 48 U.S. states, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center.
Last year also marked the 36th consecutive year with a global temperature above the 20th century average, the federal agency said Tuesday.
"All 12 years to date in the 21st century (2001 to 2012) rank among the 14 warmest in the 133-year period of record (keeping). Only one year during the (20th) century — 1998 — was warmer than 2012," the center said.
In 2012, the contiguous United States experienced its warmest year since national record keeping began in 1895, the agency said. The new record broke the prior one, set in 1998, by 1 degree Fahrenheit, the center said.
The year's average temperature of 55.3 degrees Fahrenheit across the Lower 48 was more than 3.2 degrees warmer than the average for the 20th century, NOAA reported earlier this month.
Every state in the contiguous United States saw above-average temperatures in 2012, with 19 of them setting annual records of their own, NOAA said this month. Meanwhile, the country faced 11 weather disasters that topped $1 billion in losses each, including a lingering drought that covered 61% of the country at one point.
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That drought shriveled crops across the American farm belt, which is expected to cause a rise in food prices in 2013, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. It also turned forests of the mountain West into stands of tinder that exploded into catastrophic wildfires over the summer, scorching millions of acres and destroying hundreds of homes.
In October, Superstorm Sandy, a post-tropical cyclone, killed at least 110 people in the United States and nearly 70 in the Caribbean and Canada. Damage estimates from the storm run around $80 billion in New York and New Jersey alone.
Most of the world saw warmer annual temperatures, including most of the Americas, Europe and Africa, the federal agency said. Western, southern and far northeastern Asia also had the same experience, officials said.
"Meanwhile, most of Alaska, far western Canada, central Asia, parts of the eastern and equatorial Pacific, southern Atlantic, and parts of the Southern Ocean were notably cooler than average. Additionally, the Arctic experienced a record-breaking ice melt season, while the Antarctic ice extent was above average," the U.S. agency said.
At the same time Tuesday, the world's warming trend was blamed for the postponement of a sled dog race in Minnesota.
The John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon and Mid-Distance Races were rescheduled to March 10 from January 27 because of scant snow.
"For the third time in six years, we've had to cancel or reschedule the Beargrease sled dog race due to lack of snow," race coordinator Pat Olson said.
"We recently had a big rain storm. Rain, but no snow, which messed up the trails. Lots of people [in the sled dog racing community] are doing what we're doing. There was a race scheduled for last weekend and this weekend, and both of those races were forced to be rescheduled due to lack of snow," Olson said.
One musher cited global warming -- disputed by some analysts and politicians -- as an explanation.
"Last year all but one sled dog race was canceled in Minnesota," said Peter McClelland, a sled dog marathon racer and operator of a sled tour business in Minnesota. "Over the past five years, we've lost a month of snowy weather on either side of the typical winter season. That's a big deal, to lose a month when your season is only four months out of the year.
"It seems to be that this is just a climate change issue," McClelland continued. "Temperatures are going up. Historically we used to have snow by Thanksgiving, but that hasn't happened for over a decade."
The 400-mile marathon race is regarded as one of the most famous dog sled races, held on Minnesota's North Shore, along the usually frosty Lake Superior.
Last year, the Beargrease races were canceled because of "lack of snow and poor trail conditions," the race's board of directors said.
CNN's Chandler Friedman contributed to this report.
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