CLIMATE IN 2003

Abstract

The year 2003 was the second warmest year on record for the globe and tied with 2002, but was colder than the record warm year of 1998. Data collected by the NOAA polar orbiting satellite indicate that the temperature centered in the lower troposphere was the third warmest since the beginning of satellite measurements in 1979, but the temperature of the lower stratosphere was below average. Record summer heat waves in Europe and Asia claimed losses of thousands of lives. During a 20-day heat wave, the maximum temperature in Pakistan reached as high as 52 °C. Conversely, extremely cold winter temperatures were recorded across Asia in January. Temperatures in northwestern Russia were as low as –45 °C, and thousands of deaths were attributed to extremely cold conditions in India and Bangladesh. Tropical cyclones, typhoons and heavy monsoon rainfall brought flooding to many areas of the world. The inhabitants of Argentina experienced the worst flooding in centuries due to several days of heavy rainfall in April and May, which caused major rivers to overflow their banks. Floods lasting several months in China brought death of hundreds of people. Heavy rainfall triggered numerous landslides, whose most disastrous consequences were felt in Indonesia, where more than a hundred people died. Over the entire year, severe to extreme drought was widespread in the western USA, as well as in parts of Australia, Europe and Africa.