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    Global climate change

    Global climate highlights for 2016 are sobering

    By Brett Anderson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
    9/06/2017, 12:30:30 PM

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    A few weeks ago while I was away on vacation, NOAA released their annual State of the Climate report.

    Here is a breakdown of some of the highlights from 2016.........

    --2016 surpassed 2015 as the warmest year on record. Records go back to 1880. Clearly, long-term warming and even a strong El Nino played a role in this impressive record.

    --Global sea surface temperatures were the warmest on record as a whole for 2016, beating out the previous record set in 2015.

    Global sea surface temperature anomalies compared to the 1981-2010 average.

    Global sea surface temperature anomalies since 1900. Multiple databases.

    --Upper ocean heat content was near a record high.

    --No surprise, global atmospheric CO2 concentration reached another record high in the official database, surpassing 402 ppm.

    --Sea level over most of the oceans of the world experienced higher-than-average sea level compared to the 1993-2016 average. This is likely due to a combination of long-term sea level rise, regional storminess and natural climate variability.

    Global sea level since the 1990s.

    --Overall, average global sea level reached a record high for 2016 as meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets combined with the thermal expansion of ocean water due to warming.

    --Speaking of glaciers, mountain based glaciers continue to see a steady decline in ice mass.

    Glacier mass balance, the difference between ice lost through melting and ice gained through new snowfall.

    --Finally, the number of extreme hot days continues to trend upward globally.

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    Images courtesy of NOAA.

    The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

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    Brett Anderson

    Global climate change

    In the AccuWeather climate change blog, you will find links to the latest research and commentary by experts with various points of view.