Newsletter Issue 27 (January 2023)

The Year’s Weather – A eventful 2022

Globally, 2022 is likely to be the fifth or sixth warmest year on record according to the World Meteorological Organization’s preliminary assessment. Global mean sea level continued to rise, reaching a new record high in 2022. In Hong Kong, with a record-breaking hot July and the warmest autumn from September to November, the weather was warmer than usual in 2022 with an annual mean temperature of 23.9 degrees, the sixth warmest since records began in 1884.

The Weather of December 2022 – a colder December

With stronger than normal northeast monsoon affecting southern China in the month, the weather of Hong Kong was colder than usual in December 2022. The monthly mean temperature was 16.6 degrees, 1.6 degrees below the normal figure of 18.2 degrees. The annual total rainfall of 2205.4 millimetres in 2022 was about 9 percent below the annual normal of 2431.2 millimetres.

Past eight years confirmed to be the eight warmest on record

The past eight years were the warmest on record globally, fueled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat, according to six leading international temperature datasets consolidated by the World Meteorological Organization. The average global temperature in 2022 was about 1.15 [1.02 to 1.27] °C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels. 2022 is the 8th consecutive year (2015-2022) that annual global temperatures have reached at least 1°C above pre-industrial levels, according to all datasets compiled by WMO.

Ozone layer recovery is on track, helping avoid global warming by 0.5°C

The ozone layer is on track to recover within four decades, with the global phaseout of ozone-depleting chemicals already benefitting efforts to mitigate climate change. This is the conclusion of a UN-backed panel of experts. Examining novel technologies such as geoengineering for the first time, the panel warns of unintended impacts on the ozone layer.

Hurricanes and floods bring $120bn in insurance losses in 2022

Losses from natural catastrophes covered by insurance totalled around $120 billion last year, similar to 2021, though short of 2017’s record damages, Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, said. “Weather shocks are on the rise. We can’t directly attribute any single severe weather event to climate change. But climate change has made weather extremes more likely.” Ernst Rauch, chief climate scientist at Munich Re, said.

中國氣象局發布《2021年中國溫室氣體公報》

《2021年中國溫室氣體公報》顯示，2021年，青海瓦裡關國家大氣本底站觀測到的二氧化碳、甲烷和氧化亞氮濃度分別為417.0±0.2 ppm、1965±0.6 ppb、335.1±0.1 ppb，與北半球中緯度地區平均濃度大體相當。自20世紀80年代開始，中國氣象局在WMO框架下協調中國區域的溫室氣體及相關微量成分高精度觀測，陸續建成由1個全球大氣本底站和6個區域大氣本底站組成的大氣本底觀測站網，實現對《京都議定書》管控的7大類30餘種溫室氣體全面觀測。

2022國內國外十大天氣氣候事件

2022年，我國天氣形勢複雜，氣候異常顯著，極端事件頻發。國內十大入選事件的投票結果基本反映了2022年我國天氣氣候的主要特點：一是全國平均氣溫為1961年以來歷史次高，夏季高溫過程創歷史之最，但秋季寒潮頻襲；二是全國降水總體偏少，但暴雨過程頻繁，華南、東北雨澇災害重，珠江流域和松遼流域現汛情；三是區域性和階段性乾旱明顯，南方夏秋連旱影響重；四是登陸颱風異常偏少，颱風“梅花”先後四次登陸、影響範圍廣；五是強對流天氣過程偏少，局地致災重。

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