State of the Climate in 2005
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State of the Climate in 2005 For information about WMO, please contact: Communications and Public Affairs Offi ce World Meteorological Organization 7 bis, avenue de la Paix – P.O. Box 2300 – CH 1211 Geneva 2 – Switzerland Tel.: +41 (0) 22 730 83 14 – Tel.: +41 (0) 22 730 83 15 – Fax: +41 (0) 22 730 80 27 E-mail: [email protected] – Website: www.wmo.int For information about the Global Climate System Review, please contact: World Climate Programme Department World Meteorological Organization 7 bis, avenue de la Paix – P.O. Box 2300 – CH 1211 Geneva 2 – Switzerland Tel.: +41 (0) 22 730 82 68 – Fax: +41 (0) 22 730 80 42 E-mail: [email protected] – Website: www.wmo.int/web/wcp/wcp_progr.htm STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2005 WMO-No. 1015 State of the Climate in 2005 K. A. Shein,82 Ed. Contributing Editors A. M. Waple, H. J. Diamond, and J. M. Levy This publication was adapted, with permission, from the “State of the Climate for 2005”, published as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Volume 87, Number 6, June 2006, available online at dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-87-6-Shein. WMO-No. 1015 © 2007, World Meteorological Organization ISBN 92-63-11015 NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Meteorological Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitations of its frontiers or boundaries. CONTENTS Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................ v Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................................... vi Affi liations .....................................................................................................................................................................vii 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Global climate ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 A. Overview ................................................................................................................................................................ 5 B. Global temperature .............................................................................................................................................. 5 I) Surface temperature ......................................................................................................................................... 5 II) Upper-air tropospheric temperatures ........................................................................................................... 6 C. Hydrologic cycle ................................................................................................................................................... 8 I) Global precipitation .......................................................................................................................................... 8 II) Snow ............................................................................................................................................................... 11 D. Trace gases ......................................................................................................................................................... 12 I) Carbon dioxide ............................................................................................................................................... 12 II) Methane ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 III) Carbon monoxide ......................................................................................................................................... 14 IV) Nitrous oxide and sulphur hexafl uoride ................................................................................................... 14 V) Halocarbons ................................................................................................................................................... 14 3. Global oceans .......................................................................................................................................................... 17 A. Overview ............................................................................................................................................................. 17 B. Temperature ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 I) SSTs ................................................................................................................................................................. 17 II) Heat content ................................................................................................................................................... 18 III) Heat fl uxes .................................................................................................................................................... 19 C. Circulation ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 I) Surface currents .............................................................................................................................................. 20 II) Thermohaline circulation ............................................................................................................................... 22 D. Sea level ............................................................................................................................................................... 23 E. Ocean carbon ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 4. The tropics ............................................................................................................................................................... 27 A. Overview ..............................................................................................................................................................27 B. El Niño–Southern Oscillation ............................................................................................................................27 I) Overview ...........................................................................................................................................................27 II) The Madden–Julian oscillation, Kelvin wave activity, and atmospheric circulation .............................28 C. Tropical cyclones .................................................................................................................................................29 I) Seasonal activity overview ............................................................................................................................29 II) Atlantic basin ..................................................................................................................................................30 III) East Pacific basin ..........................................................................................................................................33 IV) Western North Pacific basin ........................................................................................................................35 V) Indian Ocean basins ......................................................................................................................................36 VI) South Pacific basins .....................................................................................................................................39 D. Pacific intertropical convergence zone ............................................................................................................ 42 5. The poles ..................................................................................................................................................................43 A. Overview ..............................................................................................................................................................43 B. Arctic .....................................................................................................................................................................43 I) Atmosphere ......................................................................................................................................................43 II) Arctic Ocean ...................................................................................................................................................45 III) Sea ice cover ..................................................................................................................................................46 IV) Land ................................................................................................................................................................48