WMO releases 2010 Statement on the Status of the Global Climate
28th March 2011 by Madlen King
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released its annual “Statement on the Status of the Global Climate,” available here.
The statement concludes that the year 2010 was particularly notable in that global surface temperatures reached record values and that extremes of climate were recorded in several parts of the world, resulting in significant socio-economic impacts.
Some key findings within the statement include that: 2010 tied for the warmest year on record in records dating back to 1880; the decade 2001–2010 was the warmest on record; sea surface temperatures in the region surrounding Australia were the highest on record; Norway had its coldest year since 1985 and the United Kingdom and Ireland their coldest since 1986; it was Canada’s warmest year on record; Pakistan experienced the worst flooding in its history as a result of exceptionally heavy monsoon rains; the Panama Canal closed due to weather conditions on 8–9 December for the first time in its history; Yunnan and Guizhou provinces in China both had their lowest rainfalls on record during the period from September 2009 to mid-March 2010 with totals widely 30 to 80 per cent below normal; the largest hailstone recorded in the United States, 20 cm in diameter, came from a storm at Vivian, South Dakota, on 23 July.
Madlen King is the Global Head of Climate Change & Sustainability. She ensures the technical integrity of LRQA climate change and sustainability services and liaises with external bodies and governments on climate change. Within this role, Madlen is responsible for the service design, delivery and maintenance of accreditations for all GHG validation and verification schemes [...]