2001-2010, Decade of Climate Extremes
25 July 2013
25/07/2013 - The report, Global Climate 2001-2010, A Decade of Climate Extremes, by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), shows that the Earth experienced unprecedented high climate extremes during the decade 2001-2010, which was the warmest since the beginning of modern measurements in 1850 and continued with an extended period of pronounced global warming.
The report analyzed global and regional temperatures and precipitation, as well as extreme events such as heat waves in Europe and Russia, Hurricane Katrina in the United States of America, the tropical cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, droughts in the Amazon basin, Australia, and East Africa, and floods in Pakistan.
From the data, it was reported that during this decade there were more record temperatures than in any previous decade. The decade was the warmest for both the hemispheres as well as for the land and ocean surface temperatures. The record warmth was accompanied by a rapid decline in the Arctic Sea, and accelerated loss of net mass from Greenland, Antarctica, and the world's glaciers. As a result of this widespread melting and the thermal expansion of sea water, global average sea levels rose by about 3 millimeters (mm) per year, about twice the rate observed in the 20th century trend, 1.6 mm per year. The global sea level on average during the decade was about 20 cm higher than that of 1880, according to the report.
The WMO report also noted an increase in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. The global average concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose to 389 parts per million in 2010 (an increase of 39% since the beginning of the industrial era in 1750), methane to 1808.0 parts per billion (158%), and nitrous oxide to 323.2 parts per billion (20%).