State of the Climate in 2013

• Published in: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
• Main Authors: Blunden, Jessica, Arndt, Derek S., Kanzow, Torsten_(CO)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: AMS (American Meteorological Society) 2014
• Subjects: Amundsen Scott South Pole Station; Amundsen-Scott; Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station; Arctic; Argentina; New Zealand; Pacific; South Pole; Antarc*; Antarctica; Brooks Range; Ice; north slope; permafrost; Sea ice; South pole; Alaska
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/47151/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/47151/1/Stateoftheclimate2013.pdf; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/47151/2/2013%20supplemental%20figures_v8.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1175/2014BAMSStateoftheClimate.1

In 2013, the vast majority of the monitored climate variables reported here maintained trends established in recent decades. ENSO was in a neutral state during the entire year, remaining mostly on the cool side of neutral with modest impacts on regional weather patterns' around the world. This follows several years dominated by the effects of either La Nina. or El Nino events. According to several independent analyses, 2013 was again among the 10 warmest years on record at the global scale, both at the Earth's surface and through the troposphere. Some regions in the Southern Hemispherehad record or near-record high temperatures for the year. Australia observed its hottest year on record, while Argentina and New Zealand reported their second and third hottest years, respectively. In Antarctica, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station reported its highest annual temperature since records began in 1957 At the opposite pole, the Arctic observed its seventh warmest year since record's began in the early 20th century. At 20-m depth, record high temperatures were measured at some permafrost stations on the North Slope Of Alaska and in the Brooks Range. In the Northern Hemisphere extratropics, anomalous meridional atmospheric circulation occurred throughout much of the year leading to marked regional extremes of both temperature and precipitation. Cold temperature anomalies during Winter across Eurasia were followed by warm Spring temperature anomalies, which, were linked to a new record Eurasian snow cover extent in the May. Minimum sea ice extent in the :Arctic was the sixth lowest since satellite Observations began in 1979. Including 2013, all seven lowest extents on record have occurred in the past seven years Antarctica, on the other hand, had above average sea ice extent throughout 2013, with 116 days Of new daily high extent records, inclding a new daily maximum sea ice area of 19.57 million km(2) reached on 1 October. ENSO-neutral conditions in the eastern central Pacific Ocean and a negative Pacific decadal ...