- News>
- Environment
2002 was the second warmest year
New Delhi, July 18: The year 2002 was the second warmest year in the temperature record since 1861, according to World Meteorological Organisaiton (WMO).
New Delhi, July 18: The year 2002 was the second warmest year in the temperature record since 1861, according to World Meteorological Organisaiton (WMO).
"The warming in TBE equatorial pacific contributed to making the 2002 global mean surface temperature the second highest on record," Geneva-based WMO said in `Word Climate News'.
The global mean surface temperature was 0.48 degrees celsius above the 1961-1990 annual average which makes 2002 the second warmest year, it said adding the warmest year remains 1998 in which surface temperature averaged 0.55 degrees celsius above the same 30-year mean.
The five warmest years, in decreasing order, in this period of record are now - 1998, 2002, 2001, 1995 and 1997.
For land and ocean regions polewards of 30 degrees north, the mean temperature departure was 0.76 degrees celsius, ranking as the highest on record, the report said. Surface temperatures in the tropical band ranked as second highest while polewards of 30 degrees south in southern hemisphere, the average departure was the eighth highest on record.
The report said the two major climate events in 2002 were the transition from neutral to el Nino conditions in the equatorial pacific ocean and the continuation of significant surface warming around the globe, it said.
The magnitude of the el Nino episode was significantly smaller than the 1997/98 event but many characteristic climate patterns were observed. For example, some stations in Kiribati (Central Pacific) received rainfall in excess of 10 times the average monthly rainfall in July. In another event, one of the world's driest places Arica in Chile recorded its greatest amount of rain ever on 3 July - 8.3 mm.
Bureau Report
The global mean surface temperature was 0.48 degrees celsius above the 1961-1990 annual average which makes 2002 the second warmest year, it said adding the warmest year remains 1998 in which surface temperature averaged 0.55 degrees celsius above the same 30-year mean.
The five warmest years, in decreasing order, in this period of record are now - 1998, 2002, 2001, 1995 and 1997.
For land and ocean regions polewards of 30 degrees north, the mean temperature departure was 0.76 degrees celsius, ranking as the highest on record, the report said. Surface temperatures in the tropical band ranked as second highest while polewards of 30 degrees south in southern hemisphere, the average departure was the eighth highest on record.
The report said the two major climate events in 2002 were the transition from neutral to el Nino conditions in the equatorial pacific ocean and the continuation of significant surface warming around the globe, it said.
The magnitude of the el Nino episode was significantly smaller than the 1997/98 event but many characteristic climate patterns were observed. For example, some stations in Kiribati (Central Pacific) received rainfall in excess of 10 times the average monthly rainfall in July. In another event, one of the world's driest places Arica in Chile recorded its greatest amount of rain ever on 3 July - 8.3 mm.
Bureau Report