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SPECIAL REPORTS |
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The Year
2009 To Rank Among The Top 10 Warmest On
Record Since 1850
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 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).
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,
heat-waves 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 Niña conditions shifted into a warm-phase
El Niño-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 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 +5°C,
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 40°C,
and some local temperatures reaching 45°C. 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.
The austral autumn (March to May) was
extremely warm in Argentina, Uruguay,
Paraguay and southern Brazil. With daily
temperatures ranging from 30°C to 40°C,
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 40°C). 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 48.8°C.
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 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.
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