WMO-No. 1055WMO statement on the status of the global climate in 2009WMO in collaboration with Members issues since 1993 annual statements on the status of the global climate. This publication was issued in collaboration with the Hadley Centre of the UK Meteorological Office and the Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; and the National Climatic Data Center, the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Ination Service, and the National Weather Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA, and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, United States of America. Other contributors are the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Japan, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and Uruguay. The WMO Regional Association VI Europe Regional Climate Centre on Climate Monitoring, 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 Nio CIIFEN, Guayaquil, Ecuador, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre ICPAC, Nairobi, the Southern African Development Community Drought Monitoring Centre SADC DMC, Gabarone and the World Climate Research Programme WCRP also contributed.WMO-No. 1055 World Meteorological Organization, 2010The right of publication in print, electronic and any other 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 in part or in whole should be addressed toChair, Publications BoardWorld Meteorological Organization WMO7 bis, avenue de la Paix Tel. 41 0 22 730 84 03P.O. Box 2300 Fax 41 0 22 730 80 40CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland E-mail publicationswmo.intISBN 978-92-63-11055-8NOTEThe 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.Cover The beauty and variety of the weather. Illustration by Felix Jegenberg, 8 years old, Sweden 1ForewordSince 1993, the World Meteorological Organization WMO has been issuing its annual “WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate”, which has become an authoritative regular source of ination, eagerly sought by the scientific community and the media. The present Statement is the latest addition to this successful series, and a key result is that the period 2000–2009 was the warmest dec-ade on record since the beginning of modern instrumental measurements around 1850. A number of extreme weather and climate events were recorded in 2009, including in particular heatwaves in China, India and south-ern Europe, as well as in Australia. Severe droughts, intense storms and flooding were also registered in different parts of the world, and the end of 2009 was notably cold in the northern hemisphere, with heavy snowfall in Europe, North America and northern Asia. Furthermore, the year concluded with a moder-ate El Nio event, which is being continuously monitored. It is essential to underscore the vital role of the National Meteorological Services of the 189 Members of WMO and of many WMO partners for their key efforts to maintain the necessary observing infrastructure and the ination systems, which permitted the exchange of data and analyses of temperature and precipitation variations, tropical cyclones, drought and flooding, snow cover and sea ice, the ozone layer and many other critical weather, climate and water parameters moni-tored across the world over the year which has concluded. Equally outstanding were the continuing efforts of several climate centres to develop the long-term homogeneous datasets required to support the authoritative assessments that contributed to the work of WMO, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the World Climate Research Programme and other key scientific activities across the world. I therefore wish to express the gratitude of the World Meteorological Organization to all contributors to the WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2009.M. Jarraud Secretary-General2Global temperature during 2009The year 2009 is nominally ranked as the fifth warmest year on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records around 1850. On the decadal scale, the analysis shows that the 2000s decade 2000–2009 was warmer than the 1990s 1990–1999, which in turn were warmer than the 1980s 1980–1989 and earlier decades.Global temperature assessment is provided with an uncertainty margin that affects the global surface temperature figures and consequently their ranking, mainly as a result of the existing gaps in data coverage. The magnitude of the uncertainty in assessing the global surface temperature in 2009 is estimated at 0.10C. Therefore, the most likely value of the global surface temperature anomaly for 2009 is between 0.34C and 0.56C.The southern hemisphere was particularly warmer than the long-term average, especially during the austral winter and late spring.Note There are three independent datasets used for the analysis of the global temperature anomaly. Based on two global datasets maintained independently by the Met Office Hadley Centre and Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom and the National Climatic Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NCDC–NOAA in the United States, the analysis of the global surface temperature for the year 2009 shows anomalies of 0.44C 0.59F and 0.46C 0.63F in the two datasets, respectively, with reference to the 1961–1990 long-term average of 14C 57.2F. A third dataset, which is maintained by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies operated by the National Aeronautics and Figure 1. Global ranked surface temperatures for the warmest 50 years. Inset shows global ranked surface temperatures from 1850. The size of the bars indicates the 95 per cent confident limits associated with each year. The source data are blended land surface air temperature and sea surface temperature from HadCRUT3 series Brohan and others, 2006. Values are simple area-weighted averages for the whole year.Source Met Office Hadley Centre, UK, and Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, UK1850 20001900 19500.60.40.20.0– 0.2– 0.4– 0.6– 0.8Anomaly C relative to 1961–1990HadCRUT3NCDCGISSFigure 2. Annual global average temperature anomalies relative to 1961–1990 from 1850 to 2009 from HadCRUT3 black line and grey area, representing mean and 95 per cent uncertainty range, the NOAA National Climatic Data Center red and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies blue Source Met Office Hadley Centre, UK, and Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, UKRank of hottest years to coldestTemperature difference Cfrom 1961–1990 averageRankSpace Administration NASA in the United States, shows a global surface temperature anomaly of 0.50C for 2009, which is in the same range as above. Ination on source and ology for global surface temperature assessment is provided on page 12.Regional temperature anomaliesAccording to the reports provided by the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, above-normal annual temperatures were recorded in 2009 in most parts of the continents. However, parts of the United States and Canada, and central Siberia experienced cooler temperatures than average. During the year, extreme warm episodes were frequently recorded in southern South America, Australia and southern Asia. In the southern hemisphere, August and November set new temperature records.EuropeIn Europe, warmer-than-average temperatures were recorded during most of the year. In some parts of western and central Europe, colder-than-average conditions were recorded at the beginning of the year. Spring was very warm in Europe. April was particularly mild in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria with monthly mean temperature anomalies of more than 5C in some places. The mean April temperatures ranged between 10C and 15C compared to the long-term average values ranging between 5C and 10C. The summer was also warmer than the long-term average, particularly over southern Europe. Spain had the third warmest summer after the very hot summers of 2003 and 2005. However, a very cold October was reported in Scandinavia, with mean temperature anomalies ranging from –2C to –4C. Early winter 2009/2010 started with an extended cold wave of more than a week in most of Europe. On some days in December, the minimum temperature dropped to –40C in some locations in Scandinavia, –17C in northern Italy and below –20 C in the 180 120W 60W 0 60E 120E 18090S60S30S030N60N90N–10 –5 –3 –1 –0.5 –0.2 0 0.2 0.5 1 3 5 10Figure 4. Global field of land surface and sea surface temperature anomalies C, relative to 1961–1990 for 2009 Source Met Office Hadley Centre, UK, and Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, UK13.4 14.613.6 13.8 14.0 14.2 14.42000–20091990–19991980–19891970–19791960–19691950–19591940–19491930–19391920–19291910–19191900–19091890–18991880–18891870–18791860–18691850–185914.4214.2514.0913.6113.9313.9013.8513.9413.8713.7213.6013.6113.6813.7713.6313.74Average 1961–1990Global Temperature CDecadeFigure 3. Decadal global average combined land–ocean surface temperature C combining two global temperature datasets Sources a Met Office Hadley Centre, UK, and Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, UK; b National Climatic Data Center, NOAA, United States. The only dataset available for decades 1850–1859, 1860–1869 and 1970–1979 is a.north-east of France. The combination of cold weather and extensive snowfalls was unusual in the United Kingdom, which experienced the most prolonged spell of freezing temperatures and snowfall across the country since winter 1981/1982.AsiaApart from some areas in northern Asia, the rest of the continent experienced higher-than-average temperatures. India recorded its warmest year since 1901 with a mean temperature anomaly of 0.93C. China had its fourth warmest year since 1951. The year started with a very mild January in large parts of the continent, although February was particularly cold in the Russian Federation. Spring was warmer than average across the whole continent, as was summer in most parts of the region. Temperatures during December Antarctic ozone hole 24 million km at its peakin mid-September; fifteenth largest on record sincesatellite records began in 1979Arctic Sea IceThird lowest extent on record in September,behind 2007 and 2008. September 1996was the last year with above average seaice extent.ENSOLa Nia conditions transitioned into a warm phase ENSO El Nio in June.Atlantic hurricane seasonBelow average activity9 storms, 3 hurricanesEastern North Pacific hurricane seasonNear average activity20 storms, 8 hurricanesSouth Pacific tropical cyclone seasonBelow average activity10 storms, 1 cycloneNorth Indian Ocean cyclone seasonNear average activity 5 storms, 1 cycloneSouth Indian Ocean cyclone seasonNear average activity16 storms, 7 cyclones North America snow cover extentThird largest October snow cover extent on record;largest December snow cover extent on recordHurricane Rick OctoberMaximum winds 285 km/hThe second most intense EasternNorth Pacific hurricane on record, behind Linda of 1997, and thestrongest hurricane to in October since reliable records beganWestern North Pacific typhoon seasonBelow average activity22 storms, 13 typhoonsTyphoon Morakot AugustMaximum winds 155 km/hThe deadliest typhoon to hit Taiwan Province of China since records began; prompted the worst flooding in five decades on the island; destroyed over 10 000 homes and caused 614 fatalitiesUnited StatesRecord floods on the Red River in the northern Plains region March; wettest October since records began 115 years ago; below average tornado season after record activity in 2008AustraliaRecord-breaking heatwave affected southern Australia during January/February. Accompanying very dry conditions contributed to the development of deadly wildfires. Also, Australia had its warmest August and warmest November since national records began 60 years ago.New ZealandWarmest August since national records began 155 years ago; experienced cool conditions during October 2009, resulting in the coolest October since 1945IndiaIndia experienced its weakest monsoonseason since 1972, with 23 per cent below normal rainfall on average across the nation for the season. IndiaHeavy rain fell over the southern states, leaving 2.5 million people homeless and claiming the lives of nearly 300 people October.BhutanReceived its heaviest rainfall in 13 yearsOctoberTyphoon Ketsana SeptemberMaximum winds 165 km/hWorld’s second deadliest tropical cyclone of 2009; caused Manila’s worst flooding in 40 years. The heaviest precipitation 424 mm fell in a 12-hour period, breaking a 24-hour record 335 mm set in 1967 and surpassing the average September monthly rainfall 391 mm for the area.CanadaA tornado claimed the lives of three people in Ontario, the first tornado-related fatalities in Canadasince 1995 July. Toronto, Ontario had a snow-free November for the first time in recorded history.Zambia and NamibiaTorrential rain prompted the overflow of rivers, flooding homes and cropland. Nearly 1 million people were affected. The Zambezi River reached its highest level since 1969 March and April.BrazilTorrential downpours caused floods and mudslides, affecting over 186 000 residents. This region experienced its worst deluge in over 20 years April.Tropical Cyclone Fanele JanuaryMaximum winds 185 km/hBrought heavy rain and strong winds to Madagascar; affected nearly 28 000 peopleCentral EuropeHeavy rain triggered floods, causing central Europe’s worst natural disaster sincethe 2002 floods June.BangladeshDhaka received 290 mm of rain on 29 July, the l