2019, the second warmest year in history after 2016

Confirmed. 2019 has been the second warmest year since measurements are made. This is indicated by the Copernicus climate change service (C3S). Meanwhile, Europe recorded its warmest year on record by a narrow margin. Copernicus is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency that aims to build an autonomous system of observation (atmospheric, marine, environmental…) of the Earth.

In addition, together with the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS), C3S also reports that CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have continued to rise.

The WMO has already estimated that 2019 would likely be the second or third warmest year on record.

The temperature dataset provided by the C3S shows that, in 2019, the global average surface air temperature was 0.04°C lower than in 2016, the warmest year on record.

Four keys

The data also reveal four conclusions.

1) The five warmest years on record have been those of the last five years, with 2019 emerging as the second hottest year. Also, the decade from 2010 to 2019 has been the warmest in history ·

2) The temperature of 2019 was almost 0.6 ° C warmer than the average of the period between 1981 and 2010

3) The average temperature of the last five years has been between 1.1 and 1.2° C higher than the pre-industrial level as defined by the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

and 4) Europe recorded the hottest calendar year in its history, with temperatures slightly above those of 2014, 2015 and 2018.

In addition, according to satellite measurements of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere on a global scale. CO2 emissions continued to increase in 2019 and increased by 2.3± 0.8 ppm.

Alaska and Arctic

The greatest warming compared to the average for the period 1981-2010 occurred in Alaska and in large areas of the Arctic. Most continental areas recorded above-average temperatures, especially Eastern and Southern Europe, Southern Africa and Australia. In contrast, central and southeastern Canada experienced below-average annual temperatures.

In Europe, all seasons were warmer than usual, and summer and autumn were the hottest quarters on record. None of the seasons broke records in terms of average temperature, but the Old Continent recorded its warmest calendar year on record, with temperatures slightly higher than those of 2014, 2015 and 2018.

The five warmest years on record have been those of the last five years

“The year 2019 has been another exceptionally warm year. In fact, this is the second hottest year in our dataset on a global scale, and many months have broken records in this regard,” says Carlo Buontempo, head of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

This expert highlights that the operational program processes millions of terrestrial, marine, aerial and satellite observations daily. It employs a state-of-the-art computer model to make a compendium of all these observations.

Five years

The last five years have been the warmest five years in history and the last decade, the hottest on record. “Without a doubt, these are alarming signs,” says this meteorological service.

Meanwhile, CO2 concentrations continue to rise. Analysis of satellite data indicates that carbon dioxide concentrations have continued to grow in recent years, including 2019. The CO2 concentrations obtained via satellite are representative of the CO2 combination ratio of the average column, also called XCO2.

The temperature in 2019 was almost 0.6°C warmer than the average for the period between 1981 and 2010

The average annual growth of XCO2 for 2019 is estimated to be 2.3 ± 0.8 ppm per year. This figure exceeds the growth rate of 2018, which stood at 2.1 ± 0.5 ppm/year, but is lower than the 2.9 ± 0.3 ppm/year recorded in 2015.

Regular climate monitoring

Every year, the C3S offers a comprehensive overview of our continent’s climate in its State of the European Climate report. In the report, more climate variables and specific weather events of the last year will be analyzed. The 2019 State of the European Climate will be published in spring 2020.

In addition to annual temperature values, C3S periodically publishes climate bulletins at the beginning of each month exposing observed anomalies in surface air temperature around the world, sea ice coverage, and hydrological variables.

Source: The Vanguard