Antarctic Sea Ice Extent in March was the fourth largest on record at 5.0 million km2 or 16.0 per cent above the 1979-2000 average. During its growth season, the Antarctic sea ice extent reached its maximum extent since records began in 1979 on 26 September, at 19.4 million km2. This value surpassed the previous maximum sea ice extent record of 19.36 million km2 set on 21 September 2006.
Extreme Events: Hurricane Sandy killed close to 100 people and caused major destruction in the Caribbean and tens of billions of US dollars in damage and around 130 deaths in the eastern United States of America. Typhoon Bopha, the deadliest tropical cyclone of the year, hit the Philippines – twice – in December. During the year, the United States and south-eastern Europe experienced extreme drought conditions, while West Africa was severely hit by extreme flooding. The populations of Europe, northern Africa and Asia were acutely affected by extreme cold and snow conditions. Severe flooding occurred in Pakistan on a third consecutive year.
Climate Change is aggravating naturally occurring climate variability and has become a source of uncertainty for climate-sensitive economic sectors like agriculture and energy.
“It is vital that we continue to invest in the observations and research that will improve our knowledge about climate variability and climate change,” said Mr. Jarraud.
“We need to understand how much of the extra heat captured by greenhouse gases is being stored in the oceans and the consequences this brings in terms of ocean acidification and other impacts. We need to know more about the temporary cooling effects of pollution and other aerosols emitted into the atmosphere. We also need a better understanding of the changing behaviour of extreme weather and climate events as a consequence of global warming, as well as the need to assist countries in the most affected areas to better manage climate-related risks with improved climate early warning and climate watch systems,” said Mr. Jarraud.
The Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), adopted by the Extraordinary World Meteorological Congress in 2012, now provides the necessary global platform to inform decision-making for climate adaptation through enhanced climate information.
Check the following link to read/download WMO Statement on the Status of the Global Climate:
http://library.wmo.int/opac/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=14750
Source: WMO.
The World Meteorological Organization is the United Nations System’s authoritative voice on Weather, Climate and Water.
