Climate change/El Nino/La Nina

[Jovial Monk]

Got a newletter from the British Met. Office.

See the online version here.

[link changed by mod due to it identifying information that the author subsequently complained about being used here]

[IQS.RLOW]

[email address from link removed by mod]

[boxy]

Insider
Make a difference with the latest climate change news, views and findings from the Met Office

Dear xxxxxx,

Weather was headline news around the world last year with natural hazards raising awareness of our vulnerability and challenging our scientific understanding and ability to predict and prepare for such events. The floods in Australia, Brazil, China, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the Russian heatwave, wildfires and crop losses are all examples of events which have raised questions around climate change and if such events can be attributed to a warming world. Here’s the latest climate change update from the Met Office, helping you to comprehend the consequences of our changing climate.

Climate Week

The Met Office is the lead science advisor for Climate Week which takes place from 21 to 27 March to highlight the positive steps already being taken to help combat climate change. We’ll explain the key science of climate change, for example through interviews with scientists in newspapers, magazines and websites, so people have the evidence and facts to help guide the debate.

Find out more about Climate Week
Impacts of La Niña

Extreme weather in 2010 saw the Russian heatwave and flooding in Australia, Brazil, China, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. While in contrast, at the end of the year, many areas across Northern Europe experienced heavy snowfalls and very low temperatures. Dr Adam Scaife, Met Office Climate Scientist and an expert on La Niña and El Niño, explains the impacts of La Niña in this video.

Discover the science behind La Niña and its global impacts

Learn how La Niña has increased the price of commodities such as coal and wheat
2010 near record year

The Met Office and the University of East Anglia have revealed that the mean temperature in 2010 was 14.5 °C, making it the second warmest year on record after 1998. El Niño conditions, which have a warming effect, strongly influenced global temperature last year. However, the El Niño was replaced by the strongest La Niña for more than 30 years which cools the climate.

Read more about the second warmest year on record
2010: an unprecedented year of geophysical hazards?

Professor Julia Slingo, Met Office Chief Scientist, gave the keynote Frontiers of Geophysics lecture at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Fransisco in December. Discussing 'Society's Growing Vulnerability to Natural Hazards and Implications for Geophysics Research' Julia looks at some recent natural hazards to explore the implications for weather and climate modelling, and how to translate our predictions into products and services.

Watch a video of the lecture and read an interview with Professor Julia Slingo in the scientific journal, Nature

This is the cut'n'paste version of what was on the page, sent by the met office.