Top Ten Climate Events In 2010
1. Mid-Atlantic Cities Break All-Time Snowfall Records
The year got off to a snowy start in the eastern U.S., with record-breaking storms along the Mid-Atlantic coast. The Nor’easter that struck in the first week of February — which quickly became known as “
Snowmageddon” – dumped so much snow that it helped Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Washington break all-time records for winter snow totals. For example, Washington’s Reagan National Airport received 56.1 inches of snow during the 2009-10 winter, compared to the average total of just 15.2 inches!
2. Flooding in Nashville, Tennessee
Spring typically brings rain showers to much of the U.S., but in 2010 excessive rainfall caused a number of serious floods in the Southeast, the worst of which occurred in Tennessee. On May 1, rain began falling heavily in the middle and western regions of the state. Within 48 hours, between
13 and 19 inches of rainhad fallen, and many rivers overflowed. When the deluge finally let up two days later, large areas had been engulfed by floodwaters. At least 33 people died in the Tennessee floods, and the
Nashville Planning Department says the state’s capital suffered $1.9 billion in damages — including damage to the iconic
Grande Ole Opry Theatre.
3. Record-breaking Heat Waves and Droughts in Africa and the Middle East
In June 2010, a scorching heat wave in Africa and the Middle East broke a number of all-time temperature records in the region. In fact, between May and June,
seven countries broke their previous high temperature records: Pakistan, Myanmar (Burma), Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Chad, Niger and Kuwait. On June 15, Kuwait posted its hottest-ever temperature when the mercury rose to 126.7°F in the city of Abdaly.
The incredible heat did more than just shatter temperature records. In Saudi Arabia, a sandstorm that accompanied the extreme heat led to a number of power-outages in parts of the country. In Pakistan, temperatures climbed as high as 128.3°F, the highest temperature ever recorded in the continent of Asia, according to
Weather Underground.
4. Russian Heat Wave
Another region struck by intense heat during the summer of 2010 was western Russia, and Moscow in particular. On June 29, the
mercury rose above 100°F in Moscow for the first time on record, and such abnormally high temperatures lasted for well over a month. According to Weather Underground meteorologist
Jeff Masters, Moscow experienced 26 consecutive days with temperatures above 86°F this summer and then, on August 6, records broke again when Moscow hit 102°F.
Elsewhere in Russia, temperatures climbed as
high at 111°F, the highest temperature ever recorded in that country (not including the former Soviet Republics).
5. U.S. Summer Heat Waves
The United States was not spared from the year’s record heat events. Across the East, the summer was marked by several episodes of extreme
heat and humidity. Delaware, New Jersey and North Carolina experienced their
warmest June on record, as did several cities, including New York, Washington, and Philadelphia.
On July 6 and 7, an
intense heat wave struck the Northeast, from Maine down to Pennsylvania. Parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were hit with temperatures above 100°F. Overall, the month of July was the
hottest on record in Rhode Island and Delaware and it ranked amongst the 10
th warmest for each state along the East Coast.
6. Pakistan Monsoon and Flooding
The monsoon season was particularly cruel in Pakistan. In late July, unrelenting
torrential rains battered the eastern part of the country, triggering severe flooding. Within just four days after the rains began, the Associated Press
reported nearly a thousand people had been killed. The floods continued well into September. According to the United Nations, floodwaters drove millions of people from their homes and affected a total of
20 million people. In addition to destroying homes and livelihoods, the flooding caused extensive damage to Pakistan’s infrastructure, including power plants and thousands of miles of roads, railways, and public buildings. Labeled as the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history, the death toll has reached nearly 2,000.
7. Third Lowest Arctic Sea Ice Extent
Every summer, as the Northern Hemisphere warms up, the amount of sea ice in the Arctic begins to shrink back. It usually reaches its minimum extent in September, then starts to refreeze as temperatures begin to drop. The
2010 minimum came on September 19, 2010 — and this year’s was the
third lowest ever recorded by satellites since such records began in 1979.
8. Lake Mead Record Low
The Hoover Dam (originally known as the Boulder Dam) was erected in the 1930s, and by 1943 Lake Mead had risen out of the Colorado River to a height of 1,220 feet above sea level. But this year, on October 18, Lake Mead reached a
record low, dropping down to just 1083.9 feet, having lost about 12 stories of height. Though still about eight feet above the designated point of a critical water shortage, the low water levels are a warning signal to the millions of people in Southwest states who rely on this resource for drinking water and irrigation.
9. Amazon Drought
For the second time in five years, the Amazon River basin in northwestern Brazil is in
severe drought. Brought on by a particularly arid dry season through April and May, the drought has extended through to November. One of the primary Amazon tributaries, the Rio Negro, dropped to its
lowest level since records began in 1902, according to the Brazilian Geological Service. As water levels along the Rio Negro
dropped severely in October, water temperatures in the river also began to climb, killing millions of fish and contaminating the water supplies for thousands that live in the region.
10. Final Annual Temperature Ranking
The latest numbers from NOAA are in, and January to November 2010 is tied with 2005 for the dubious honor of “The Warmest Year on Record” (records date back to 1880). As for November 2010, it was officially the second warmest on record, even with the cooling effect of La Niña in the mix. The global oceans ranked only 10th warmest, whereas the land surface made up the difference and came in more than 0.3ºF warmer than the previous warmest November. The full year is expected to finish up as the hottest on record, or close behind, once the statistics for December are averaged in.
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