Day: May 18, 2022

Assessing the Global Climate in April 2022: Month tied as the fifth-warmest April on record for the globe — NOAA

Cattle egret in tree Australia. Courtesy of NOAA Fisheries

Click the link to read the article on the NOAA website:

The global surface temperature for April 2022 tied with 2010 as the fifth highest for April in the 143-year NOAA record, which dates back to 1880. The year-to-date (January-April) global surface temperature was also the fifth warmest such period on record. According to NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Rankings Outlook, it is virtually certain (> 99.0%) that the year 2022 will rank among the 10 warmest years on record.

This monthly summary, developed by scientists at NCEI, is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides to government, business, academia and the public to support informed decision-making.

Global Temperature for April

The April 2022 global surface temperature was 1.53°F (0.85°C) above the 20th-century average of 56.7°F (13.7°C) – tying with 2010 as the fifth-warmest April in the 143-year record. The 10 warmest April months have occurred since 2010, with the years 2014-2022 all ranking among the 10 warmest Aprils on record. April 2022 also marked the 46th consecutive April and the 448th consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th-century average.

Temperatures were much above average across parts of southern North America, the Atlantic Ocean, central South America, northern and eastern Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and across much of the Indian Ocean and northern and western Pacific oceans. Meanwhile, near- to cooler-than-average April temperatures were observed across much of central and northern North America, southern South America, central Europe, southern Africa, and central, eastern tropical and southeastern Pacific Ocean.

Asia, as a whole, had its warmest April on record, dating back to 1910, with a temperature departure of 4.72°F (2.62°C) above average. This value surpassed the now-second warmest April that was set in 2016 by 0.09°F (0.05°C).

Oceania had its fifth-warmest April on record, while Africa and South America had their ninth and 12th-warmest April on record, respectively. Despite Europe having a warmer-than-average April, it did not rank among the 20 warmest Aprils on record. North America was the only continent with a cooler-than-average April, and it was the coolest April for the region since 2018.

Sea Ice and Snow Cover

According to data from NOAA and an analysis by the Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during April was above the 1981-2010 average at 11.92 million square miles. North America also had an above-average April snow cover extent, ranking as the 13th-largest in the 56-year record. Meanwhile, Eurasia had a below-average April snow cover extent.

The April 2022 Arctic sea ice extent averaged 5.43 million square miles, which is 243,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 average and was the 11th smallest for April since records began in 1979. Despite being below average, it was the largest April sea ice extent since 2014. Regionally, the Bering Sea had its largest April sea ice extent since 2013.

The Antarctic sea ice extent for April 2022 was 2.25 million square miles or 390,000 square miles below average, tying with 1981 as the fourth-smallest April sea ice extent on record. Only the Aprils of 1980, 2017 and 2019 had smaller sea ice extents.

Global Tropical Cyclones in April

Five tropical storms formed globally in April, which is above average. The Northern Hemisphere had two named storms during the month, and they formed over the West Pacific. Of the five tropical storms that formed during April, only one reached cyclone (hurricane) strength. This was Typhoon Malakas, in the West Pacific Ocean, which intensified to an equivalent Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The South Indian Ocean had two tropical storms, while the Southwest Pacific basin had one storm for the month. There have been a total of 23 tropical storms during January-April 2022, which is near average.

#ClimateChange is causing glaciers around the world to recede at an alarming rate. The loss of Rocky Mountain glaciers will affect the Prairies’ freshwater supply — and that’s a big problem — CBC News

Athabasca Glacier on the Columbia Icefield, Jasper National Park July 2020. By Ethan Sahagun – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92222404

Click the link to read the article on the CBC News website (Christy Climenhaga). Here’s an excerpt:

A drive through the Canadian Rockies will treat you to views of blue mountain lakes, wildlife and, of course, glaciers. But with our changing climate and warming winters, glaciers are receding at an alarming rate in Canada and around the world. Globally that will impact sea levels while here on the Prairies, the loss of our Rocky Mountain glaciers will affect our freshwater supply.

“We’re past the tipping point for the glaciers in the Canadian Rockies,” says John Pomeroy, professor and Canada Research Chair in water resources and climate change at the University of Saskatchewan.

Pomeroy says over the last few decades, almost all the world’s glaciers have shrunk and the rate of decline is accelerating.

“Even if somehow, magically, we’re able to stop global warming tomorrow and return the atmosphere to more normal CO2 concentrations, we would lose most of the Rockies’ glaciers.”

[…]

High rate of melting

Warmer winters aren’t the only factor driving glacier melt. A deep purple algae, likely linked to forest fires, has been collecting on Canadian glaciers over the last few decades. The algae looks like dark dust and causes the glacier to absorb solar energy, causing even more rapid melting.

“I went through my photographs in the 1970s and ‘80s just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,” says Pomeroy.

“Glaciers were very, very white back then. And they’re not like that now.”

[…]

Strain on our rivers

What does all this mean for our water supply? Kavanaugh says glaciers keep our rivers flowing when other water sources dry up, like late summer when the snowmelt is gone and rainfall is at its weakest.

“They carry us through the hottest months into the winter.”

During particularly hot and dry years — like last summer, for example — glacier-fed rivers can actually see higher-than-normal flow.

“Though the streams that relied on the snowpack and groundwater dropped to very, very low levels, the streams that were fed by glaciers — like the Athabasca River or the North Saskatchewan — had very high flows,” Pomeroy says

The next few decades could be marked by high flows in our glacial rivers, which will continue as long as the glaciers are voluminous enough to contribute a lot of water, Kavanaugh says.