2007 Mean Temperatures Hit Record Highs in Japan and the World

Annual mean temperatures for 2007 rose in Japan and in the entire world, the Japan Meteorological agency announced on February 1, 2008. According to the release, the global annual mean temperature for 2007 increased by 0.28 degrees Celsius compared to the 1971-2000 long-term average. This was sixth highest figure since 1880, when statistics started to be compiled. It also said that Japan's annual mean temperature for 2007 rose by 0.85 degrees Celsius, the fourth highest annual record in the same period.

Over the long term, the world's annual mean temperature has been rising at a rate of 0.67 degrees Celsius per hundred years. In 2007, temperatures were high in the mid- and high-latitude land areas of the Northern Hemisphere's continents. The global mean land surface temperature increased by 0.66 degrees Celsius, the greatest increase recorded since statistics have been kept.

Meanwhile, Japan's long-term annual mean temperature has been rising at a rate of 1.1 degrees Celsius per hundred years. Especially since the early 1990s, record high temperatures have been frequently recorded in Japan.

The recent warm years observed in Japan and the world might be attributed to global warming due to the increase of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, together with natural changes that recur in cycles of several years to several decades.

http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html

Posted: 2008/06/04 03:21:11 PM