STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2009

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I. INTRODUCTION—M. O. Baringer and D. S. ArndtThe primary goal of the annual State of the Climatecollection of articles is to document the weather andclimate events in 2009 from around the world andput them into accurate historical perspective, with aparticular focus on unusual or anomalous events. Theyear also marks the end of the first decade of the 21stcentury, so whenever possible the climate anomaliesover this decade are highlighted.This year the State of the Climate report bringstogether more than 300 authors from every continentand from over 160 different research groups to collaborate,share data and insights, and describe theobserved changes in climate from different perspectives.The 2009 El Niño and the global consequencesdescribed herein highlight the global scope of connectionsbetween weather, climate, and, one could argue,climate scientists. In keeping with the increasinglyglobal perspective of this report, the authors and editorsseek to provide an inclusive synthesis of diverseweather and climate data to describe what took placeacross our planet last year. For example, recognizingthe importance of providing error statistics, differinganalysis products and datasets are included wherepossible (e.g., see sidebar on ocean heat content analysesin Chapter 3). We expect this trend to continuein future reports. Notably, the document’s editorsrepresented three disciplinary backgrounds (meteorology,oceanography, and biology). This compositionreflects the increasing recognition that the naturalworld is embedded within, impacted by, and exertsinfluence on the physical climate system. We expectthese connections to be explored in future issues ofState of the Climate.As a guiding principle behind the inclusion ofcertain climatic events into this report, the GlobalClimate Observing System has identified EssentialClimate Variables (ECVs, see GCOS 2003) (see appendixfor a full list of abbreviations) necessary tosupport the United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change. These variables are defined asthose required for international exchange and shouldbe economically and technically feasible to acquire(Table 1.1). The State of the Climate report has evolvedto include an increasing number of these climaticallyimportant variables as data availability increases andthe analysis techniques and attributions improve. Thedegree to which each of these ECVs can be assessedand reported depends largely on the level of dataavailability both currently and as a homogeneoushistorical record and, hence, can be divided into categories:(1) being monitored, (2) partially monitored,and (3) not yet monitored. To be listed as monitored,the ECV not only must be observed across much ofthe world, but also needs a moderately long-termdataset with accompanying analysis. Also the datasetneeds to be updated in near-real time and have a peerreviewedarticle documenting the reliability of all ofthese steps. This year land cover/use is not reportedbecause the data are only updated every five years andlast year’s report covers the most recent data available.Lake levels, biomass, and fire disturbance ECVs wereincluded—at least partially-monitored—for the firsttime this year (see Chapter 2). Other variables importantfor research purposes are not included as ECVs,however the GCOS list of ECVs as well as the variablespresented in this report are continually reassessed asimproved observing technologies emerge. Continualadvancement of the number of ECVs reported hereinwill not be possible without increasing internationalefforts to make the observations of the underlyingvariables and provide access to these data.A brief overview of the findings in this reportis presented in the Abstract and shown in Fig. 1.1.The remainder of the report is organized startingwith global scale climate variables in Chapter 2, intoincreasingly divided geographic regions described inchapters 3 through 7. Chapter 3 highlights the globalocean and Chapter 4 includes tropical climate phenomenasuch as El Niño and hurricanes. The Arcticand Antarctic respond differently through time andhence are reported in separate chapters. For a regionalperspective authored largely by local governmentclimate specialists, see Chapter 7. Seasonal patternsare encapsulated in Chapter 8.S14 | juNE 2010
Fig. 1.1. Geographical distribution of notable climate anomalies and events occurring around the planet in 2009.STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2009 juNE 2010 |S15
Page 8 and 9: Luo, Jing-Jia, Research Institute f
Page 10 and 11: Tedesco, Marco, Department Earth an
Page 12 and 13: 4. THE TROPICS.....................
Page 14 and 15: ABSTRACT—M. O. Baringer, D. S. Ar
Page 18 and 19: Table 1.1 The GCOS Essential Climat
Page 20 and 21: S18 | juNE 2010
Page 22 and 23: Stratospheric TemperatureCloudiness
Page 25: Source Datasets Sectionhttp://www.p
Page 28 and 29: HOW do WE KNOW THE WORLD HAS WARMED
Page 30 and 31: Fig. 2.6. As for Fig. 2.1 but for l
Page 32 and 33: Fig. 2.10. Change in TCWV from 2008
Page 34 and 35: Precipitation anomalies in 2009, ov
Page 36 and 37: Fig. 2.18. Seasonal SCE anomalies (
Page 38 and 39: USING SI-TRACABLE GLOBAL POSITIONIN
Page 40 and 41: 6) Lake levels—C. BirkettLake vol
Page 42 and 43: Fig. 2.30. (a) The daily AO index f
Page 45 and 46: (C) Carbon monoxide (CO)There has b
Page 47 and 48: Table 2.5. Mixing ratios, radiative
Page 50 and 51: the mid-1990s but has since levelle
Page 52 and 53: with all 42 glaciers observed retre
Page 54 and 55: of 0.1° and 5 days (Kaiser et al.
Page 56 and 57: Fig. 3.1. (a) Yearly mean SSTAs in
Page 58 and 59: (Fig. 3.3c). It is interesting that
Page 60 and 61: strong there, consistent with anoma
Page 62 and 63: cont'RECENT ADVANCES IN OUR UNDERST
Page 64 and 65: is to cause SST to rise if oceanic
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egions around the subtropical salin
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Fig 3.17. Principal empirical ortho
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Fig. 3.19. Daily estimates of the s
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Fig. 3.22. (top) The 2009 SSH anoma
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to update the CO 2climatology, ther
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µmol kg -1 or about half of the ac
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Fig. 3.31. (a) Average MODIS-Aqua C
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latitudes, chlorophyll and thermal
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Fig. 4.4. (a) Anomalous 850-hPa win
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(Fig. 4.6). These include four MJO
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Fig. 4.8. NOAA’s ACE index expres
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Fig. 4.14. ASO 2009: Anomalous 200-
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Fig. 4.17. The tracks of all TCs th
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Several previous studies have shown
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followed by TY Linfa and TS Nangka
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The Philippines were severely affec
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The historical SIO TC data is proba
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Fig. 4.26. Global anomalies of TCHP
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degree resolution NASA TRMM rainfal
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F i g. 4.32 . TRMM (a) mean and (b)
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THE forgotten sub-BASIN—THE centr
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5. THE ARCTIC—J. Richter-Menge, E
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and North America (south of 55° la
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Fig. 5.8. 2007-09 Atlantic water la
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d. Sea ice cover—D. Perovich, R.
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e. Land1) Vegetation—D. A. Walker
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Fig. 5.18. Total annual river disch
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negative SCD anomalies were evident
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with records beginning in 1873, the
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(QuikSCAT, 2000-09) microwave remot
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6. ANTARCTICAa. Overview—R. L. Fo
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(SCAR) report ‘Antarctic Climate
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these stations in April, August, an
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e. 2008-2009 Seasonal melt extent a
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positive ice-season duration anomal
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7. REGIONAL CLIMATESa. Introduction
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first half of the year (January-Jun
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its second wettest such period. Sev
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California began the year with mode
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The first drought occurred in March
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Fig. 7.8. (a) Annual mean temperatu
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Fig. 7.11. (a) Annual mean temperat
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EXTREME rainfall and the flood of t
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Fig. 7.14. Composite for standardiz
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Fig. 7.17. Daily maximum temperatur
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(ii) PrecipitationDecember to Febru
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For Zimbabwe, the rainfall season,
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Fig. 7.28. Annual mean temperature
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Fig. 7.31. Seasonal anomalies (1961
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(1706-2009), and new national recor
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cold in southern and central Finlan
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EXCEPTIONAL storm strikes northern
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7.32b). April was particularly mild
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to -44 о С) persisted in southern
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Fig. 7.39. Weather conditions in De
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on the 1971-2000 climatology) for a
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excess rainfall, while 11 subdivisi
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4) Southwest Asia(i) Iraq—M. Roge
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Wales. The warmth was particularly
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The most significant severe thunder
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mm thick, which fell on parts of No
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and Vanua Levu islands (Fiji) as a
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Table 7.5. Maximum temperature anom
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8. SEASONAL SUMMARIES—Mike Halper
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Fig. 8.5. Jun-Aug 2009 (top) surfac
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIn addition to the m
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CFCCFC-11CFC-12CH 4Chl satCIIFENClC
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OAFlux Objectively Analyzed Air-Sea
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Ashok, K., S. K. Behera, S. A. Rao,
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Cangialosi, J. P., and L. A. Avila,
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Francis, J. A., W. Chan, D. J. Leat
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Hudson, J. M. G., and G. H. R. Henr
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Landsea, C. W., and W. M. Gray, 199
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Meinen, C. S., M. O. Baringer, and
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Ramaswamy, V., M. D. Schwarzkopf, W
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——, ——, T. C. Peterson, and
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Wang, L., C. Derksen, and R. Brown,
Page 224:
Monthly average temperature anomali
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STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2009

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