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Question regarding global average temperatures


eddie

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Posted
  • Location: Brighouse, West Yorkshire
  • Location: Brighouse, West Yorkshire
Posted

I have been looking at the global temperature records from the Hadley centre and it struck me that I have never seen the monthly global temperature expressed as anything other than an anomaly from some mean.

My questions is, on average does the absolute temperature of the earth change as you go through the year?

So for example is January warmer than June or is every month in the year the same temperature on average.

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Posted
  • Location: Redhill, Surrey
  • Weather Preferences: Southerly tracking LPs, heavy snow. Also 25c and calm
  • Location: Redhill, Surrey
Posted
I have been looking at the global temperature records from the Hadley centre and it struck me that I have never seen the monthly global temperature expressed as anything other than an anomaly from some mean.

My questions is, on average does the absolute temperature of the earth change as you go through the year?

So for example is January warmer than June or is every month in the year the same temperature on average.

I suppose there'll have to be some change due to land mass v ocean coverage but there will also be a reasonable constant ie NH Summer = SH Winter and vice versa. Don't know the exact answer but same to v similar I would say.

BFTP

Posted
  • Location: New York City
  • Location: New York City
Posted

The earth is further away from the sun in June, so give or take lag, there might be a lower absolute temprature in June/July.

Just a guess, would be good if anyone could confirm it.

Posted
  • Location: Redhill, Surrey
  • Weather Preferences: Southerly tracking LPs, heavy snow. Also 25c and calm
  • Location: Redhill, Surrey
Posted
I suppose there'll have to be some change due to land mass v ocean coverage but there will also be a reasonable constant ie NH Summer = SH Winter and vice versa. Don't know the exact answer but same to v similar I would say.

Re absolute temps there has to be variation to obtain cold or warm years.

BFTP

Posted
  • Location: Brighouse, West Yorkshire
  • Location: Brighouse, West Yorkshire
Posted

I know temperatures do vary as a result of weather on a month to month basis. That much is obvious.

Perhaps I should ask a more specific question:

If you took the absolute temperature (in Kelvin) of Jan between 1850 and 2006 and did the same for every month of the year and then aranged the averages in order of temperature, warmest first, what would the list look like?

Posted

I'd imagine that June-July-August are the warmest due to there being far more land in the northern hemisphere which of course heats up more than ocean does. I'd also imagine that the coldest would be Dec-Jan-Feb as land also cools more easy than ocean. Perhaps the heat just gets redistributed though.

Posted
  • Location: New York City
  • Location: New York City
Posted
I'd imagine that June-July-August are the warmest due to there being far more land in the northern hemisphere which of course heats up more than ocean does. I'd also imagine that the coldest would be Dec-Jan-Feb as land also cools more easy than ocean. Perhaps the heat just gets redistributed though.

good point never thought of that

Posted
  • Location: Inbhir Nis / Inverness - 636 ft asl
  • Weather Preferences: Freezing fog, frost, snow, sunshine.
  • Location: Inbhir Nis / Inverness - 636 ft asl
Posted

I think that factors like mountains (in Asia, America, Europe) would have an affect, because the terrains are so different. Also, Antartica would also have a big influence since it reflects so much heat. Is there not a chart for this somewhere?

Posted
  • Location: Brighouse, West Yorkshire
  • Location: Brighouse, West Yorkshire
Posted

Well I finally managed to track down the answer to this question:

"Absolute estimates of global mean surface temperature are difficult to compile for a number of reasons. Since some regions of the world have few temperature measurement stations (e.g., the Sahara Desert), interpolation must be made over large, data sparse regions. In mountainous areas, most observations come from valleys where the people live so consideration must be given to the effects of elevation on a region's average as well as to other factors that influence surface temperature. Consequently, the estimates below, while considered the best available, are still approximations and reflect the assumptions inherent in interpolation and data processing. Time series of monthly temperature records are more often expressed as departures from a base period (e.g., 1961-1990, 1901-2000) since these records are more easily interpreted and avoid some of the problems associated with estimating absolute surface temperatures over large regions. For a brief discussion of using temperature anomaly time series see the Climate of 1998 series.

The global monthly surface temperature averages in the table below can be added to a given month's anomaly (departure from the 1901 to 2000 base period average) to obtain an absolute estimate of surface temperature for that month. (Files of absolute estimates are provided below.)

Global Mean Monthly Surface Temperature Estimates for the Base Period 1901 to 2000"

From: Link

I was suprised how much the temperature does vary:

Combined Mean

Surface Temp.

1901 to 2000 (°C)

Jan 12.0

Feb 12.1

Mar 12.7

Apr 13.7

May 14.8

Jun 15.5

Jul 15.8

Aug 15.6

Sep 15.0

Oct 14.0

Nov 12.9

Dec 12.2

Ann 13.9

Posted
  • Location: Nuneaton 300ft
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and heatwave
  • Location: Nuneaton 300ft
Posted
I was suprised how much the temperature does vary:

Northern Hemisphere is 50% land mass the South is 25%

Land heats faster then oceans and cools faster so thinking it through im not surprised

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