365 Days of Climate Awareness 102 – 2010 State of the Climate

 

NOAA and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) have collaborated for a number of years on an annual State of the Climate Report, which tracks significant variables (such as ground level air and sea surface temperatures) and major ocean indices (such as El Niño/Southern Oscillation [ENSO], or the North Atlantic Oscillation [NAO]). The reports are a series of articles on features of interest from the year in question, whether it be extreme weather events, sea ice, large temperature anomalies, or otherwise. We begin here with the year 2010 and will move forward to 2020 in future posts.

2010 Surface temperature and precipitation anomalies.

At the time of publication (June 2011), 2010 was the warmest year on record (though estimates vary based on the method). Now, it ranks eighth. A strong El Niño event occurred at the year’s start, followed by a strong La Niña at the year’s end. Air temperatures lag the Niño/a events by several months, so early to mid-2010 featured the globally warm air temperatures which follow El Niño. The cooler La Niña phase of weather followed in 2011.

The Arctic Oscillation [AO], an index which compares air pressure in the Arctic to pressure in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, was very negative, meaning lower Arctic pressure and higher pressure in the Pacific and Atlantic. In this condition the polar vortex meanders farther south, bringing cold air to southern Europe and North America. 2010 was a negative phase, causing lower temperature throughout the northern hemisphere.

Temperature rises, measured  by temperature anomaly, were very high in northern North America, Africa and central Asia. The tropics and southern hemisphere show a much lower effect. Precipitation records on land are spottier but show drier conditions throughout Asia, northern Africa and southern South America, and wetter than average in the United States, Europe and Central America. Methane concentration in the atmosphere increased by about 5±2 ppb to roughly 1780 ppb, while carbon dioxide increased about 1.5 ppm to 385 ppm.

Tomorrow: 2011 state of the climate.

Be brave, and be well.