WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2016 WMO-No. 1189 WEATHER CLIMATE WATERThis publication was issued in collaboration with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ECMWF, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Japan Meteorological Agency JMA; Met Office Hadley Centre, United Kingdom; Climatic Research Unit CRU, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom; Climate Prediction Center CPC, the National Centers for Environmental Ination NCEI and the National Hurricane Center NHC of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, United States of America; National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Institute for Space Studies NASA GISS, United States of America; Global Precipitation Climatology Centre GPCC, Germany; National Snow and Ice Data Center NSIDC, United States of America; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Australia; Global Snow Lab, Rutgers University, United States of America; Regional Climate Centre for Regional Association VI, Climate Monitoring, Germany; Beijing Climate Centre, China; Tokyo Climate Centre, Japan; International Research Centre on El Nio CIIFEN, Ecuador; Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Bridgetown, Barbados; Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute KNMI, Netherlands; Institute on Global Climate and Ecology IGCE, Russian Federation; All-Russian Research Institute for Hydrometeorological Ination-World Data Center ARIHMI-WDC, Russian Federation; Global Atmospheric Watch Station Ination System GAWSIS, MeteoSwiss, Switzerland; World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases WDCGG, Japan Meteorological Agency, Japan; World Glacier Monitoring Service WGMS, Switzerland; World Ozone and UV Radiation Data Centre WOUDC, Environment and Climate Change, Canada; Niger Basin Authority, Niger. Other contributors are the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services or equivalent of Argentina; Armenia; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Belarus; Belgium; Bolivia Plurinational State of, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Burkina Faso; Canada; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Croatia; Cyprus; Czechia; Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; Denmark; Egypt; Estonia; Fiji; Finland; France; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong, China; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Ireland; Israel; Italy, Jamaica; Japan; Jordan; Latvia; Libya; Luxembourg; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Mali; Mauritius; Mexico; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; New Zealand; Niger; Norway; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Poland; Portugal; Republic of Korea; Republic of Moldova; Romania; Russian Federation; Samoa; Serbia; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Spain; Swaziland; Sweden; Switzerland; Thailand; the er Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Tonga, Tunisia; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom; United Republic of Tanzania; United States of America; Uruguay and Vanuatu. Contributions from international organizations were made available, including the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters CRED, Universit catholique de Louvain, Belgium; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO; International Monetary Fund IMF; International Organization for Migration IOM; United Nations Environment Programme UNEP and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR; World Food Programme WFP and World Health Organization WHO. The 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 to Chairperson, Publications Board World Meteorological Organization WMO 7 bis, avenue de la Paix Tel. 41 0 22 730 84 03 P.O. 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Cover illustration Adobe Stock WMO-No. 1189 World Meteorological Organization, 2017Contents Foreword 3 Preface 4 cutive summary 4 Key findings 5 Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Temperatures over land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The oceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Greenhouse gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The cryosphere in 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sea ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Glaciers and ice sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Snow cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Major climate drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Extreme events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Major droughts and floods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 El-Nio-related droughts ease in several regions, but droughts develop elsewhere. .14 Significant floods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Tropical cyclones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Destructive wildfires in several parts of the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Extreme heat and cold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Severe storms, snowfalls and tornadoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Stratospheric ozone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Towards globally consistent National Climate Monitoring Products 231.1C 2 Warming continued, setting a new record at about 1.1C above the pre-industrial period. Carbon dioxide reached new highs at 400.0 0.1 parts per million in the atmosphere. Global sea-ice extent dropped more than 4 million km 2below average. 4 million km 2 Global sea levels rose strongly during the 2015/2016 El Nio, with early 2016 values reaching new record highs. Severe droughts and floods displaced hundreds of thousands of people.3 Foreword Every year, the World Meteorological Organi- zation WMO issues a Statement on the State of the Global Climate based on data provided by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services NMHSs and other national and international organizations. For more than 20 years, these reports have been published in the six official languages of the United Nations to in governments, international agen- cies, other WMO partners and the general public about the global climate and significant weather and climate trends and events at the global and regional levels. This latest report confirms that 2016 was the warmest year on record a remarkable 1.1 C above the pre-industrial period, which is 0.06 C above the previous record set in 2015. This increase in global temperature is consistent with other changes in the climate system. Globally averaged sea-surface temperatures were also the warmest on record; global sea levels continued to rise; and Arctic sea-ice extent was well below average for most of the year. The powerful 2015/2016 El Nio played an important role in the year’s climate and confirmed that, when natural variability interacts with anthropogenic climate change, the impacts on human societies and the natural environment can be severe. The year was marked by severe droughts that affected agricultural production and left people exposed to food insecurity in southern and eastern Africa and Central America. Hurricane Matthew caused significant damage in Haiti and the United States, while heavy rains and floods affected eastern and southern Asia. Coral bleaching and mortality were reported in many tropical waters, with important impacts on marine food chains, ecosystems and fisheries. With carbon dioxide reaching a record annual average concentration of 400 parts per million ppm in the atmosphere, the influence of human activities on the climate system has become more and more evident. This influence is increasingly being demonstrated by attribution studies for some of the most critical weather and climate extremes, in particular extremes related to heat. Because the societal and economic impacts of climate change have become so important, WMO has partnered with other UN organizations to include ination in the Statement on how climate has affected people, agriculture, health and other sectors. The entry into force of the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC on 4 November 2016 represents a historic landmark. It is vital that its implementation becomes a reality and that the Agreement guides the global community in addressing climate change by curbing greenhouse gases, fostering climate resilience and mainstreaming climate adaptation into national development policies. At the request of the Conference of the Parties COP to the UNFCCC at its annual session, which took place in Marrakesh in 2016, both the annual WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate and the annual WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin will from now on be ted to COP to in its decisions on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. In this way, the Statements will complement the assessment reports that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC produces every six to seven years. In addition to providing ination about scientific progress, WMO is committed to supporting its Members in building operational climate services that enable climate resilience and adaptation. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the NMHSs of WMO Members, international and regional data centres and agencies, climate experts from around the world for their contributions and United Nations sister agencies for their valuable on societal and economic impacts. They have greatly assisted WMO in ensuring that this annual Statement achieves the highest scientific standards and societal relevance. WMO welcomes suggestions from its Members on how to further improve the Statement on the State of the Global Climate, including how it can better support action on the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. P. Taalas Secretary-General 4 Preface The present Statement is based on datasets and ination that were made available by WMO Members and partners. Comparisons were made with climatological averages and records historical background whenever possible and appropriate. More than 80 NMHSs provided direct to the Statement following WMO’s call for contributions, or made their data and climate reports available for access on their websites. When necessary, WMO communicated with the relevant national source in order to ver- ify the ination before its inclusion in the Statement. WMO Statements on the Global Climate report on the status of selected Essential Climate Variables as defined by the Global Climate Observing System. The Statement also uses ination on climate impacts provided by United Nations agencies having a mandate in various social and economic domains. from other sources affiliated under United Nations mandates are also used, based on pub- lished and online reports and material. Figures concerning casualties and economic losses are sourced, unless otherwise stated, from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters CRED, Universit catholique de Louvain, Belgium. cutive summary Warming continued in 2016, setting a new temperature record of approximately 1.1 C above the pre-industrial period, and 0.06 C above the previous highest value set in 2015. Carbon dioxide CO 2 reached new highs at 400.0 0.1 ppm in the atmosphere at the end of 2015. Global sea-ice extent dropped more than 4 million km 2below average – an unprecedented anomaly – in November. Global sea levels rose strongly during the 2015/2016 El Nio, with the early 2016 values making new records. The powerful 2015/2016 El Nio event rted a strong influence on the climate and societies against a background of long-term climate change. Severe droughts affected agriculture and yield production in many parts of the world, particularly in southern and eastern Africa and parts of Central America, where several million people experienced food insecurity and hundreds of thousands were displaced internally, according to reports from the World Food Programme WFP, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FAO, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration IOM. Hurricane Matthew in the North Atlantic led to the most damaging meteorological disaster, with Haiti sustaining the heaviest casualties. There were also major economic losses in the United States and elsewhere in the region. Flooding severely affected eastern and southern Asia with hundreds of lives lost, hundreds of thousands of people displaced and severe economic damage. Wet conditions led to good crop production in many parts of the Sahel, with record yields reported in Mali, Niger and Senegal. 1Detection and attribution studies have demon- strated that human influence on the climate has been a main driver behind the unequivocal warming of the global climate system observed since the 1950s, according to the Fifth Assess- ment Report of IPCC. Human influence has also l