2012 joined the ten previous years as one of the warmest — at ninth place — on record despite the cooling influence of a La Niña episode early in the year acording to this WMO statement on the status of the global climate.

This WMO information note is the first in a series that will aim to make the science underlying the weather, climate and water issues addressed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) more easily accessible to the general public.

According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Provisional Statement on the State of Global Climate in 2012, released at the Doha Climate Change Conference on 28 November 2012, the years 2001-2011 were among the warmest on record and the first ten months of 2012 yielded above-average temperatures globally.

The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2011, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Between 1990 and 2011 there was a 30% increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – because of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping long-lived gases.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) project have released a report, titled “Impacts of Megacities on Air Pollution and Climate.” The report provides an initial assessment of available information on air pollution and climate impacts in megacities globally.

This position paper outlines how, through The Global Framework for Climate Services, products and services, experts from various disciplines and regions will work together to develop science-based climate and environmental information tailored to end-users’ needs.

This recent annual survey on weather and climate change by WMO provides evidence that 2011 had the highest global mean surface temperature levels in a La Niña year. Highlighting a number of climate extremes, it provides evidences of the major impacts of one of the strongest La Niña events of the past 60 years.

Each year, on 23 March, World Meteorological Day commemorates the entry into force, in 1950, of the WMO Convention creating the Organization. The theme for World Meteorological Day 2012 is Powering our future with weather, climate and water.

The UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have published a report on space-based technologies and climate change.

This report recommends the establishment of a global system to provide information to help manage climate risks and opportunities. The report proposes an implementation strategy for a Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) and estimates the costs of implementing the strategy would be US$75 million per year.