2011 World Climate Data
- Global atmospheric CO2 concentration: 390.63 ppm, +1.87 ppm from 2010
- Surface air temperature anomaly: +0.57°C/1.03°F, 19th all-time 1880-2021
- Precipitation Significantly above 1961-1990 global average
- Global mean sea level 13.27 mm above 1993-2008 average, -0.28 mm from 2010
- Antarctic ozone hole: max. area 26.1 million km2; minimum O3 95 DU (Dobson Units)
- ENSO: Strong La Niña early in the year; neutral through boreal summer; strong La Niña through the end of the year
- NAO: Strongly positive
Global Conditions
- Above-average temperatures: Amazon Basin & southern South America; northern & western Africa; Europe; Scandinavia; Russia; western China; India; Pakistan
- Below-average temperatures: Northern & western South America; Greece; Turkey; eastern & southern China; Korean peninsula; Australia
- Above-average precipitation: Northern South America; northern & central South Africa; Iceland; Scotland; Norway; Australia; Mongolia; Korean peninsula; Pakistan
- Below-average precipitation: Western & southern South America; horn of Africa; Europe; southern Scandinavia; China; India
The year’s persistently strong La Niña (with the boreal
summer neutral phase common to it) depressed the global average sea level
because of the increased density of the colder Pacific water. Despite this,
2011 was among the warmest years for global air temperature, which is uncommon
for La Niña—it was ranked at the time as
the “warmest La Niña year” on record. And again despite the cooling Na Niña
effect, global heat content of the ocean was the highest on record, and
salinity anomalies: salty in evaporation basins, fresh in
precipitation-dominated regions: were consistent or grew.
The ocean is not uniformly a sink for carbon dioxide.
Depending on the CO2 content of t
he water and the temperature of
both the water and the air, the ocean might release (efflux) or absorb (uptake)
CO2. La Niña years tend to cause carbon dioxide effluxes in the
eastern Pacific, as the strengthened easterly winds bring colder, nutrient-laden
water from deeper down to the surface. Included in these nutrients is CO2
from normal cellular respiration, which is released to the atmosphere. In 2010,
another mostly La Niña year (there tends to be a lag in oceanic observations,
because many of the sensors are deployed for long stretches underwater), it is
estimated that the tropical Pacific emitted 0.48 Pg C (Petagrams = 1015
= a million billion grams), while the temperate oceans (14-15° N/S) absorbed
0.7 Pg C.
Tomorrow: 2012 State of the Climate, North America.
Be brave, and be well.
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