“ON the whole, the year 2011 was somewhat cooler than 2010…
In the Northern Hemisphere close to normal or relatively low surface air temperatures characterized most regions. Relatively warm conditions characterised northern Siberia and Russia, especially along the Arctic Ocean coast.
Conditions near the Equator were influenced by the cold La Nina situation, which has prevailed for most of 2011. Most of equatorial Pacific thereby experienced average surface air temperatures below the 1998-2006 average temperatures.
In the Southern Hemisphere surface air temperatures were close to average, or slightly below.
The Arctic was a region of relatively large contrasts. Most of the Arctic in 2011 had surface air temperatures near or above the 1998-2006 average, but along the northern coast of Siberia average 2011 temperatures were 3-4 C above the 1998-2006 average. In contrast, most regions just south of the Arctic experienced temperatures below the average.
In the Antarctic regions around the Weddell Sea experienced in 2011 above average surface air temperatures, in contrast to 2010, where the same regions were colder than average. The Antarctic Peninsula experienced relatively low average temperatures in 2011.
Please find below a link which will take you directly to a short newsletter (ca. 1.5 MB) with meteorological information summarised for the year 2011:
http://www.climate4you.com/Text/Climate4you_Year_2011.pdf
Ole Humlum, Professor of Physical Geography
Department of Physical Geography, Institute of Geosciences
University of Oslo, Norway
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.