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2003 Is Third-Hottest Year On Record, WMO Says
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

This year was the third hottest in nearly 150 years, the World Meteorological Organization announced yesterday, saying that although the warmer weather could not be attributed to a single cause, it was part of a global warming trend.

"The rhythm of temperature increases is accelerating," WMO Deputy Secretary General Michel Jarraud said. "You cannot attribute this to any single cause. It's about a very complex interaction between all the elements that make up the very complex machine that is the Earth" (Jonathan Fowler, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Dec. 17).

According to the WMO, the global surface temperature this year is expected to be 0.45 degrees Celsius above the 1961-90 annual average, making 2003 the third-warmest year since global climatic recordkeeping began in 1861. The warmest year was 1998 (0.55 degrees Celsius above average), followed by 2002 (0.48 degrees Celsius above average). The world had a temperature increase of more than 0.6 degrees Celsius during the 20th century, the agency said.

High temperatures were registered this summer in Europe, when many countries faced heat waves responsible for the deaths of over 21,000 people. The Northern Hemisphere, especially Canada, the United States, Russia and China, also registered high temperatures during the summer.

In May, temperatures in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh reached 49 degrees Celsius, the WMO said. At least 1,500 people died in India due to the hot weather. Earlier in the year, 1,900 people died in northern India due to extremely low temperatures, up to 5 degrees Celsius below normal.

The climate this year also continued to cause droughts in many countries in Africa, including Botswana, Zimbabwe, parts of South Africa and Mozambique. However, the WMO said, above normal precipitation during the rainy season, mostly caused by tropical cyclones, increased agricultural production in the area.

According to the WMO, 16 storms developed this year in the Atlantic ocean, well above 1944-96 average of 9.8 (WMO release, Dec. 16).

"By definition, exceptional events are exceptional, so they don't occur very often," said Jarraud. "But global warming is likely to lead to more frequent extraordinary events and greater intensity of these events" (Fowler, AP/Yahoo! News).