A farmer shows a dry seedling in his drought-stricken land. 2015 had been the warmest year on record in China. (Photo : www.phys.org)
The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said Tuesday, Jan. 12, that the country had the warmest year on record in 2015, partly due to a powerful El Nino, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
According to a CMA report, China's average temperature was 10.5 degrees Celsius, 0.95 degree higher than the average historical level since the country started to keep records in 1951.
The agency said that in 2015, all of the country's 31 provincial-level regions had a warmer-than-average year and 10 of the regions experienced the warmest year on record.
Chao Qingchen, vice director of the National Climate Center, said that 2015 was also the warmest year globally in the last 135 years, made worse by the effect of a strong El Nino.
The report said that China received an average of 648.8 millimeters of rainfall last year, up 3 percent from the historical level.
"Generally speaking, China's climate was normal in 2015 without severe floods or droughts," said Chao. He said that light, temperature and water were favorable to grain production last year.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the global average surface temperature in 2015 was likely to be the warmest on record, which almost reached the symbolic and significant milestone of 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial era.
The WMO said this was the result of a combination of a strong El Nino and human-induced global warming.
A WMO five-year analysis report showed that the years 2011-2015 have been the warmest five-year period on record, with several extreme weather events--including heatwaves--influenced by climate change.
"The state of the global climate in 2015 will make history as for a number of reasons. Levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached new highs and in the Northern hemisphere spring 2015 the three-month global average concentration of CO2 crossed the 400 parts per million barrier for the first time," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said.
"2015 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with ocean surface temperatures at the highest level since measurements began. It is probable that the 1 degree Celsius threshold will be crossed," Jarraud added.
