WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2007
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
WMO statement on the status of the global climate in 2007 WMO-No. 1031 WMO-No. 1031 © World Meteorological Organization, 2008 The right of publication in print, electronic and any other form and in any language is reserved by WMO. Short extracts from WMO publications may be reproduced without authorization provided that the complete source is clearly indicated. Editorial correspondence and requests to publish, reproduce or translate this publication (articles) in part or in whole should be addressed to: Chairperson, Publications Board World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 7 bis, avenue de la Paix Tel.: +41 (0) 22 730 84 03 P.O. Box No. 2300 Fax: +41 (0) 22 730 80 40 CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] ISBN 92-63-11031-1 Cover: Dancing with the clouds. Illustration by Ka-Woon Ng, 12 years old, Hong Kong, China This Statement is a summary of information provided by the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, and, in the United States, by the National Climatic Data Centre of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the National Interagency Fire Center and NOAA’s National Weather Service. Other contributors are WMO Member countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Fiji, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and Tunisia. The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD, Niamey), the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), the International Research Centre on El Niño (CIIFEN, Guayaquil), the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC, Offenbach), the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC, Nairobi), the SADC Drought Monitoring Centre (SADC DMC, Gaborone) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) also contributed. NOTE The designations employed in WMO publications and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of WMO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Opinions expressed in WMO publications are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of WMO. The mention of specific companies or products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WMO in preference to others of a similar nature which are not mentioned or advertised. Foreword Through its predecessor, the International It is relevant to recall that 2007 was a special Meteorological Organization (IMO), and year in many respects, for it was during 2007 since 1950 on its own account, the World that the IPCC issued the different compo- Meteorological Organization (WMO) has nents of its Fourth Assessment Report, which been very active in the field of climate ever then served as a fundamental contribution since the First International Meteorological to the thirteenth Conference of the Parties to Congress was convened in Vienna in 1873. the United Nations Framework Convention The IMO Commission for Climatology was on Climate Change (COP-13), held in Bali, established in 1929 and fifty years later, Indonesia, from 3 to 14 December 2007. In Bali, in 1979, WMO organized the First World WMO actively contributed to the session and Climate Conference, in collaboration with organized a successful side event, Improved such partners as the International Council for decision-making for climate adaptation: Science, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic providing a science basis. Furthermore, the Commission of the United Nations Educational, International Polar Year 2007–2008, launched Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United in 2007 as a WMO co-sponsored scientific Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and venture, is also making a key contribution to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the our increasing understanding of the global United Nations. This historic conference would climate system. In following suite, in May 2007 soon lead to the establishment of WMO’s own the Fifteenth World Meteorological Congress World Climate Programme and, in 1980, that decided that in 2009 WMO would organize of the World Climate Research Programme with partners a World Climate Conference-3, with the International Council for Science and under the overall theme of climate prediction later the Intergovernmental Oceanographic for decision-making. Commission. Furthermore, the conference would also pave the way for the establishment, I would like to stress, once more, the impor- in 1988, of the WMO/UNEP co-sponsored tance of receiving feedback from Members on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the relevance and content of these statements. (IPCC), which recently received the 2007 Nobel A questionnaire circulated by WMO among Peace Prize for its efforts “to build up and dis- recipients of the 2006 Statement revealed seminate greater knowledge about man-made important messages that were used proac- climate change, and to lay the foundations for tively in preparing the present issue. WMO the measures that are needed to counteract therefore looks forward to your comments such change”. on the WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2007, or to your suggestions The Second World Climate Conference, for further improvement. organized by WMO and its partners in 1990, provided decisive momentum to the interna- tional efforts that resulted in the development of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 and the Global Climate Observing System. In the midst of these significant contributions, in 1993 WMO began to issue an annual statement on the status of the global climate, which has by now become an established source of infor- mation eagerly sought after, each year, by the scientific community and the media. The WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2007 is the latest in this successful (M. Jarraud) series. Secretary-General Global temperatures during 2007 years on record. The Met Office Hadley Centre analyses showed that the global mean surface The analyses made by leading climate centres temperature in 2007 was 0.40°C (0.72°F) above rank the year 2007 amongst the ten warmest the 1961–1990 annual average (14°C/57.2°F) and hence marks the seventh warmest year (a) Globe on record. According to the National Climatic Figure 1 – Annual 0.6 Data Center of the National Oceanic and global and hemispheric 0.4 Atmospheric Administration, the global mean 0.2 combined land surface 0.0 surface temperature anomaly was 0.55°C air temperature and sea −0.2 (0.99°F) above the twentieth century average surface temperature −0.4 (1901–2000) of 13.9°C (56.9°F), which ranks (SST) anomalies, −0.6 2007 the fifth warmest year in its record. −0.8 1850–2007, with respect Difference (°C) from 1961−1990 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 to the 1961–1990 mean. January 2007 was the warmest January since (b) Northern hemisphere The source data are global surface records were instituted. 1.2 1.0 blended land surface air 0.8 0.6 temperature and SST 0.4 Based on the Met Office Hadley Centre analy- 0.2 from the HadCRUT3 0.0 ses, 2007 surface temperatures averaged −0.2 series (Brohan et al., −0.4 separately for each hemisphere were 0.62°C −0.6 2006). Values are simple −0.8 (1.12°F) above the 30-year mean of 14.6°C −1.0 area-weighted averages. −1.2 (58.28°F) for the northern hemisphere (second Difference (°C) from 1961−1990 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 (Source: Met Office Hadley warmest year on record) and 0.18°C (0.32°F) Centre, UK, and Climatic (c) Southern hemisphere above the 30-year mean of 13.4°C (56.12°F) for Research Unit, University of 0.6 the southern hemisphere (tenth warmest year 0.4 East Anglia, UK) 0.2 on record). The global average temperature for 0.0 January was 12.7°C (54.9°F), compared with −0.2 −0.4 the 1961–1990 January long-term average of −0.6 −0.8 12.1°C (53.8°F). −1.0 −1.2 Difference (°C) from 1961−1990 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 Figure 2 – Global ranked surface temperatures for 0.5 the warmest 50 years. 1998 2005 Inset shows global 2003 0.6 2002 0.0 2004 2007 ranked surface 2006 2001 temperatures from 1850. 1997 −0.5 The size of the bars indicates the 95 per 1995 0.4 1999 0 50 100 150 cent confidence limits 1990 2000 Rank associated with each 1991 1983 1994 1987 year. The source data 1988 1996 are blended land surface 1981 1944 1993 1980 1989 1941 1878 air temperature and 1877 1992 1973 1977 0.2 1979 1939 SST from the HadCRUT3 1940 1986 1938 1982 1945 1969 1937 1984 series (Brohan et al., 1943 1985 1958 1962 1942 1961 1963 1953 1978 2006). Values are simple 1990−2007 1972 area-weighted averages 1970−1989 0.0 for the whole year. 1950−1969 (Source: Met Office Hadley Anomaly (°C) with respect to 1961−1990 1930−1949 Centre, UK, and Climatic Research Unit, University of 1910−1929 East Anglia, UK) 1890−1909 −0.2 1850−1889 10 20 30 40 50 Rank All temperature values have uncertainties, which in the southern parts of South America. The arise mainly from gaps in data coverage. The largest warmer-than-average annual anomalies size of the uncertainties is such that the global affected high latitude regions of the northern average temperature for 2007 is statistically hemisphere including much of North America, indistinguishable from each of the nine warm- Europe and Asia. Annual temperature anoma- est years on record.