2005 Records 2nd Warmest Year since 1891

The global mean temperature in 2005 was the second highest since 1891, according to the web-based "Climate Change Monitoring Report 2005" issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on May 19, 2006 (new issue only in Japanese, but English from 2004 is available). This annual report unveils the results of observation, monitoring, and analysis on climate change in the past year, including global warming and the ozonosphere. According to the report, the deviation of global annual mean temperatures in 2005 was 0.32 degrees Celsius, the second highest since 1891 when observations began. The global carbon dioxide concentration in 2004 reached 377.1 parts per million (ppm), up 35 percent from 280 ppm, the average concentration before the industrial revolution.

The report makes a number of points regarding the climate in Japan in 2005. Western Japan was under a continual water shortage in summer, caused by little rainfall. December brought the coldest winter and heaviest snowfall in 20 years nationwide, breaking old records for the monthly maximum snow depth at 106 out of 339 snowfall observation stations. The potential causes of cold waves and heavy snowfall cited are strong waves of cold air moving over Japan as the westerlies shifted further south than usual, and atmospheric convective activity in the tropical zone that strengthened the shift of the westerlies, which accelerated the flow of cold air.

The completion of Japanese 25-year ReAnalysis Project (JRA-25), jointly conducted by the JMA and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, is also featured in the report. The JRA-25 aimed to produce a high quality climatological dataset covering several decades, using the most advanced systems for numerical mathematics and super computers, based on meteorological observation data from 1979 to 2004. It is expected to significantly improve the accuracy of weather forecasting, including seasonal predictions.

http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/jma-eng/jma-center/Climate_Change/content.htm
http://www.jreap.org/indexe.html

Posted: 2006/08/09 06:13:12 AM
Japanese version