GENEVA - The year 2003, marked by a sweltering summer and drought across
large swaths of the planet, was the third hottest in nearly 150 years, the
United Nations (news - web sites) weather agency said Tuesday.
The World Meteorological Organization (news - web sites) estimated the average
surface temperature for the year to be 0.81 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the
normal 25.2 degrees. The agency said that warmer weather could not be attributed
to any one cause but was part of a trend that global warming (news - web sites)
was likely to prolong.
The agency, which collects data from forecasters worldwide, said the three
hottest years since accurate records began to be kept in 1861 have all been in
the past six years.
The hottest was 1998, when the average temperature was up 0.99 degrees.
"The rhythm of temperature increases is accelerating," said WMO deputy
secretary-general Michel Jarraud.
This summer, much of Europe was struck by a prolonged heat wave, with
temperatures exceeding 104 degrees. The hot weather was blamed for the deaths of
thousands, most in France, and devastating forest fires in several countries. It
also accelerated the melting of Alpine glaciers, the WMO said.
India and Pakistan also were hit by a deadly heat wave in May and June, when
1,500 people died as temperatures soared above 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The
western United States continued to suffer from drought, and wildfires in
California burned nearly 75,000 acres of land in October.
In the southern hemisphere springtime, Australia logged a record September
temperature of over 109 degrees.
Over the 2002-03 winter, North America received its 10th lowest recorded
snowfall, although the northeastern United States was battered a record
snowstorm in February, the agency said.
Other parts of the world also faced extreme winter weather. January temperatures
in northeastern Russia dropped to -49 degrees, while Mongolia also was gripped
by an exceptionally harsh winter for the third year running, devastating
livestock.
As winter hit the southern hemisphere, 200 people were killed in Peru when
temperatures fell to -4 degrees Fahrenheit.
"You cannot attribute this to any single cause," Jarraud said. "It's about the
very complex interaction between all the elements that make up the very complex
machine that is the Earth."
In the Atlantic Ocean, 16 separate storms developed this year, well above the
1948-96 average of 9.8. Hurricane Isabel, which battered North Carolina, was one
of the strongest on record. Hurricane Fabian was the most destructive to hit
Bermuda in 75 years.
"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."
Separately Tuesday, Swiss Reinsurance Ltd., which backs insurance companies
against major claims and analyzes the effect of disasters, said 20,000 people
were killed by natural catastrophes in 2003. Swiss Re said its preliminary
findings showed that disasters caused total losses of $65 billion. Insurers paid
out $15 billion, it said.