Cool conditions prevailed across large parts of the North America in 2014. Everywhere else, the frequency of warm days was higher than average, and the frequency of cold nights was below average.
Understanding Climate
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In 2014, the most essential indicators of Earth's changing climate continued to reflect trends of a warming planet, with several setting new records. Here are NOAA Climate.gov's highlights from the State of the Climate in 2014 report released online today by the American Meteorological Society (AMS).
The latest installment of NOAA's Arctic Report Card confirms that Arctic air temperatures are rising at more than twice the rate of the planet as a whole. This collection of images highlights some of the key changes in physical and biological conditions in the Far North.
As the assessment now known as the BAMS State of the Climate report pushes into its third decade, international participation is at an all-time high. From atmospheric chemists to tropical meteorologists, more than 420 authors from institutions in 57 countries contributed to this year's report.
The annual average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere stood at 395.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2013—a 27 percent increase compared to conditions before the Industrial Revolution. On May 9, 2013, the daily average concentration of CO2 surpassed 400 ppm for the first time at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.
Super Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the east coast of Samar and Leyte Islands in the Philippines with what may have been the highest recorded wind speed for a tropical cyclone at landfall. Haiyan, locally known as “Yolanda,” was the deadliest typhoon in the country's modern record.
Arctic sea ice extent shrunk down to 2.0 million square miles (5.1 million square kilometers) in September 2013—18 percent below the 1981-2010 average, but larger than record low set in 2012.
Globally-averaged surface temperature for 2013 was 0.36 - 0.38° Fahrenheit above the 1981–2010 average, placing it among the top 10 warmest years since record-keeping began.
2013 continued a trend of water vapor in the surface atmosphere increasing over land and ocean relative to the 1970s, while the atmosphere over land becomes less saturated.
In 2012—for the 23rd consecutive year—mountain glaciers worldwide lost more mass through melting than they gained through new snow accumulation. The retreat of the majority of mountain glaciers worldwide is one of the clearest signs that climate is warming over the long term.