Monday Study – The World’s Climate Numbers Now

State of the Global Climate 2021

May 18 2022 (World Meteorological Organization)

Key Messages

The global mean temperature in 2021 was around 1.11 ± 0.13 °C above the 1850–1900 pre-industrial average. This is less warm than some recent years due to the influence of La Niña conditions at the start and end of the year. The most recent seven years, 2015 to 2021, were the seven warmest years on record.

Global mean sea level reached a new record high in 2021, rising an average of 4.5 mm per year over the period 2013–2021.

click to enlarge

The Antarctic ozone hole reached a maximum area of 24.8 million km2 in 2021. This unusually deep and large ozone hole was driven by a strong and stable polar vortex and colder-than-average conditions in the lower stratosphere.

Greenland experienced an exceptional mid-August melt event and the first-ever recorded rainfall at Summit Station, the highest point on the Greenland ice sheet at an altitude of 3 216 m.

click to enlarge

Exceptional heatwaves broke records across western North America and the Mediterranean. Death Valley, California reached 54.4 °C on 9 July, equalling a similar 2020 value as the highest recorded in the world since at least the 1930s, and Syracuse in Sicily reached 48.8 °C.

Hurricane Ida was the most significant of the North Atlantic season, making landfall in Louisiana on 29 August, equalling the strongest landfall on record for the state, with economic losses in the United States estimated at US$ 75 billion.

click to enlarge

Deadly and costly flooding induced economic losses of US$ 17.7 billion in Henan province of China, and Western Europe experienced some of its most severe flooding on record in mid-July. This event was associated with economic losses in Germany exceeding US$ 20 billion.

Drought affected many parts of the world, including areas in Canada, United States, Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. In Canada, severe drought led to forecast wheat and canola crop production levels being 35%–40% below 2020 levels, while in the United States, the level of Lake Mead on the Colorado River fell in July to 47 m below full supply level, the lowest level on record.

click to enlarge

The compounded effects of conflict, extreme weather events and economic shocks, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, undermined decades of progress towards improving food security globally.

Hydro-meteorological hazards continued to contribute to internal displacement. The countries with the highest numbers of displacements recorded as of October 2021 were China (more than 1.4 million), Viet Nam (more than 664 000) and the Philippines (more than 600 000)…

Tweet