| |
CX2SA > CLIMAT 02.01.10 18:03l 275 Lines 15757 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 29867_CX2SA
Read: GUEST
Subj: 2000-2009, THE WARMEST DECADE
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DB0ERF<OK0NHD<SR1BSZ<ON4HU<DB0RES<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<XE1FH<
F4BWT<VK4FY<WU3V<CX2SA
Sent: 100102/1658Z @:CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA #:29867 [Minas] FBB7.00e $:29867_CX2SA
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA
To : CLIMAT@WW
2000-2009, THE WARMEST DECADE
=============================
Geneva, 8 December 2009 (WMO) - The year 2009 is likely to rank in the top
10 warmest on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records in
1850, according to data sources compiled by the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO). The global combined sea surface and land surface air
temperature for 2009 (January-October) is currently estimated at 0.44øC ñ
0.11øC (0.79øF ñ 0.20øF) above the 1961-1990 annual average of
14.00øC/57.2øF. The current nominal ranking of 2009, which does not account
for uncertainties in the annual averages, places it as the fifth-warmest
year. The decade of the 2000s (2000-2009) was warmer than the decade
spanning the 1990s (1990-1999), which in turn was warmer than the 1980s
(1980-1989). More complete data for the remainder of the year 2009 will be
analysed at the beginning of 2010 to update the current assessment.
This year above-normal temperatures were recorded in most parts of the
continents. Only North America (United States and Canada) experienced
conditions that were cooler than average. Given the current figures, large
parts of southern Asia and central Africa are likely to have the warmest
year on record.
Climate extremes, including devastating floods, severe droughts, snowstorms,
heatwaves and cold waves, were recorded in many parts of the world. This
year the extreme warm events were more frequent and intense in southern
South America, Australia and southern Asia, in particular. La Ni¤a
conditions shifted into a warm-phase El Ni¤o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in
June. The Arctic sea ice extent during the melt season ranked the third
lowest, after the lowest and second-lowest records set in 2007 and 2008,
respectively.
This preliminary information for 2009 is based on climate data from networks
of land-based weather and climate stations, ships and buoys, as well as
satellites. The data are continuously collected and disseminated by the
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of the 189 Members
of WMO and several collaborating research institutions. The data
continuously feed three main depository global climate data and analysis
centres, which develop and maintain homogeneous global climate datasets
based on peer-reviewed methodologies. The WMO global temperature analysis is
thus based on three complementary datasets. One is the combined dataset
maintained by both the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climatic
Research Unit, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Another dataset is
maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
under the United States Department of Commerce, and the third one is from
the Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) operated by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The content of the WMO
statement is verified and peer-reviewed by leading experts from other
international, regional and national climate institutions and centres before
its publication.
Final updates and figures for 2009 will be published in March 2010 in the
annual WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate.
Regional temperature anomalies
The year 2009 (January-October) was again warmer than the 1961-1990 average
all over Europe and the Middle East. China had the third-warmest year since
1951; for some regions 2009 was the warmest year. The year started with a
mild January in northern Europe and large parts of Asia, while western and
central Europe were colder than normal. Russia and the Great Lakes region in
Canada experienced colder-than- average temperatures in February and
January, respectively. Spring was very warm in Europe and Asia; April in
particular was extremely warm in central Europe. Germany, the Czech Republic
and Austria reported temperature anomalies of more than +5øC, breaking the
previous records for the month in several locations. The European summer was
also warmer than the long-term average, particularly over the southern
regions. Spain had the third-warmest summer, with hotter summers reported
only in 2003 and 2005. Italy recorded a strong heatwave in July, with
maximum temperatures above 40øC, and some local temperatures reaching 45øC.
A heatwave at the beginning of July affected the United Kingdom, France,
Belgium and Germany, and some stations in Norway experienced new maximum
temperature records.
India had an extreme heatwave event during May, which caused 150 deaths. A
heatwave hit northern China during June, with daily maximum temperatures
above 40øC; historical maximum temperature records were broken for the
summer in some locations.
In late July many cities across Canada recorded their warmest daily
temperatures. Vancouver and Victoria set new records, reaching 34.4øC and
35.0øC, respectively. Alaska also had the second-warmest July on record.
Conversely, October was a very cold month across large parts of the United
States. For the nation as a whole, it was the third-coolest October on
record, with an average temperature anomaly of -2.2øC (-4.0øF). Similarly, a
very cold October was reported in Scandinavia, with mean temperature
anomalies ranging from -2øC to -4øC.
The austral autumn (March to May) was extremely warm in Argentina, Uruguay,
Paraguay and southern Brazil. With daily temperatures ranging from 30øC to
40øC, several records were broken during this season. By the end of October,
an extreme weather situation affected north and central Argentina, producing
unusually high temperatures (above 40øC). Conversely, November was
abnormally cold in the southern part of the region, with some rare and late
snowfalls.
So far, Australia has had the third-warmest year on record. The year 2009
was marked by three exceptional heatwaves, which affected south-eastern
Australia in January/February and November, and subtropical eastern
Australia in August. The January/February heatwave was associated with
disastrous bushfires that caused more than 173 fatalities. Victoria recorded
its highest temperature with 48.8øC. The northern region experienced a cold
summer, however, with anomalies reaching -3øC to -4øC in some places. Winter
was exceptionally mild over much of Australia. Maximum temperatures were
well above normal across the entire continent, reaching 6øC to 7øC above
normal in some parts. The national maximum temperature anomaly of +3.2øC was
the largest ever recorded for any month.
Severe droughts
China suffered its worst drought in five decades. Water levels in parts of
the Gan River and Xiangjiang River were the lowest in the past 50 years. In
India the poor monsoon season caused severe drought impacts in 40 per cent
of the districts. The north-western and north-eastern parts of the country
were badly affected. It was reported to be one of the weakest monsoon
seasons since 1972.
In East Africa the drought led to massive food shortages. In Kenya the
drought was responsible for severe damage to livestock and a 40 percent
decline in the maize harvest.
In North America, Mexico experienced severe-to-exceptional drought
conditions by the month of September. In the United States, the western
region was the most affected by a moderate-to-exceptional drought by the end
of October. Nevertheless, the total area affected by drought in the United
States during October was the second-smallest value recorded in this decade.
Drought in Central Argentina caused severe damage to agriculture, livestock
and water resources. The situation was most severe at the end of October,
with very high temperatures reported as well.
Over the key agricultural areas of the Murray-Darling Basin and the
south-western part of Western Australia, rainfall was generally below
normal. The passage of another year without any sustained above-normal
rainfall has seen long-term rainfall deficits continuing in south-eastern
Australia. Sustained dry conditions in the Murray-Darling Basin have now
continued for nine years.
Intense storm events and precipitation
At the end of January, Spain and France were severely affected by winter
storm Klaus, the worst extra-tropical storm in a decade, with winds similar
to a category 3 hurricane. Another winter storm combined with heavy snowfall
caused severe damage in western Europe and resulted in serious disruptions
of air and rail traffic in several countries. In late spring and summer a
large number of thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail and tornadoes caused
local flooding and significant damage across Germany. In September, several
parts of the Mediterranean region were affected by extreme rainfall events.
Total rainfall of more than 300mm was recorded in less than 48 hours in one
location of south-eastern Spain, where the long-term average for total
annual precipitation does not exceed 450 mm. During the same month, intense
rainfall caused devastating damage to infrastructure in several parts of
northern Africa, including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. In a similar
pattern, the highest September rainfall recorded in 80 years produced severe
flash floods in north-western Turkey. November brought severe flooding to
northern areas of the United Kingdom, and a new 24-hour precipitation record
was set for the country.
During the beginning of the year heavy rainfall was observed in Colombia,
producing landslides and widespread floods. North-east Brazil was severely
affected by heavy rainfall and flooding in April and May. Later, in July, a
severe snowstorm hit the southern part of Argentina; it was the worst
snowstorm in 15 years. During the austral spring, particularly in November,
continuous heavy and intense rainfall was seen in north-eastern Argentina,
southern Brazil and Uruguay, causing flooding in many places and affecting
more than 15,000 people. Total monthly precipitation records were broken,
with rainfall exceeding more than 500mm in many locations.
In Canada, Ontario experienced a record number of witnessed tornadoes and a
record number of related fatalities. Canadian avalanches were almost double
the yearly average for the past decade and the worst since 2002-2003. A
total of 25 deaths made it one of the deadliest seasons. The northern plains
region of the United States was affected by record flooding during the month
of March. As a whole, the United States recorded the wettest October in 115
years.
In Central America, an intense storm in El Salvador in November, associated
in part with Hurricane Ida, produced deadly floods and landslides that
claimed 192 lives.
In Asia, after the weak 2009 monsoon season, southern India recorded severe
flooding due to incessant rain in late September and the first week of
October, and more than 250 lives were lost. On the other hand, northern
China was severely affected by a snowstorm that occurred during the first
half of November as part of a strong cold wave. These snowfalls were one
month earlier than normal, breaking local weather records.
In western Africa, heavy and intense rainfall in September caused flooding
that affected more than 100,000 people. The worst flooding was observed in
Burkina Faso, where 263 mm of rain was recorded in less than 12 hours,
breaking a record set 90 years ago. Further south on the continent, nearly 1
million people in Zambia and Namibia were affected by torrential rain that
caused rivers to overflow their banks, flooding homes and cropland.
Australia was also affected by local flooding. Coastal Queensland and New
South Wales were the hardest hit by several heavy rain events, with daily
rainfall totals in excess of 300 mm. On the other hand, numerous duststorms
affected eastern Australia in the second half of September and early
October, as regular strong winds transported dust from northern South
Australia over the eastern states. The most severe duststorm occurred on
22-23 September and covered large parts of New South Wales and Queensland,
where the visibility was reduced to 100-200m in both Sydney and Brisbane.
End of La Ni¤a and Development of El Ni¤o
La Ni¤a-like conditions were present in early 2009, followed by the
development of El Ni¤o patterns starting in June 2009. During June-September
2009, sea surface temperatures were generally about 1øC warmer than the
long-term average across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. An El
Ni¤o event is currently underway, with the early phase of the event holding
steady at weak-to-moderate levels through July-September. During October,
almost all indicators of El Ni¤o became noticeably stronger.
Tropical cyclone season
The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season closed with the fewest named storms and
hurricanes since 1997, most likely due to the unfavourable cyclonic
conditions caused in part by El Ni¤o. A total of nine named tropical storms
were formed, including three hurricanes, two of which were major hurricanes
at Category 3 strength or higher. (The averages are 11, 6 and 2,
respectively).
In the East Pacific, 20 named tropical storms were recorded, eight of which
evolved into hurricanes and five of which became major hurricanes (The
averages are 16, 9 and 4, respectively.)
In the western North Pacific, 22 named tropical storms have been recorded so
far, and 13 of them reached the intensity of typhoon, compared to the
long-term averages of 27 and 14, respectively. Heavy precipitation
associated with typhoons Ketsana and Parma was observed across the south of
Luzon Island in the Philippines. The resulting flood disaster caused more
than 900 fatalities in total. In August, Typhoon Morakot swept across Taiwan
Province of China and caused more than 400 deaths and severe damage to
agriculture and infrastructure. Hundreds of roads and bridges on the island
were destroyed by floods.
The Australian and South Indian Ocean cyclone seasons recorded near-average
activity. In the Australian region, there were 10 systems during this
season, with Hamish the most significant one, although it did not make
landfall. It reached category 5 intensity and was the most intense cyclone
observed off the eastern Queensland coast since 1918.
Third-lowest Arctic sea ice
According to scientific measurements, Arctic sea ice has declined
dramatically over the past 30 years at least, with the most extreme decline
seen in the summer melt season. Arctic sea ice extent during the 2009 melt
season was 5.10 million km2, which is the third-lowest on record after the
2007 record (4.3 million km2) and 2008 (4.67 million km2), since satellite
measurements began in 1979.
Information sources
This press release was issued in collaboration with the Hadley Centre of the
United Kingdom Meteorological Office; the Climatic Research Unit, University
of East Anglia, United Kingdom; the National Climatic Data Center, National
Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service, and the National
Weather Service under NOAA; and the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the
United States. Other contributors are the NMHSs of Algeria, Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany,
Iceland, India, Japan, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and Uruguay.
The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD,
Niamey), the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization (CSIRO), the Centro Internacional para la Investigaci¢n del
Fen¢meno de El Ni¤o (CIIFEN, Guayaquil, Ecuador), the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Applications Centre
(ICPAC, Nairobi, Kenya), the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Drought Monitoring Centre (SADC DMC, Gabarone, Botswana) and the World
Climate Research Programme (WCRP) also contributed.
Source: WMO
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
