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Of: TT
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Photo: Hasse Holmberg / TT
2020 is a year that for many reasons goes down in history. For example, the average annual temperature has never been higher. Stock Photography.
Not even an unexpected cold snap for Christmas can prevent 2020 from being the warmest year in Sweden so far.
The average annual temperature reaches 7.5 degrees, according to SMHI.
This year’s average temperature is the highest measured in 160 years. The statistics don’t go back any further.
– We have collected data from 35 stations that are relatively evenly distributed across the country, and are chosen because they have information dating back to the 1860s, explains Erik Kjellström, professor of climatology at SMHI.
The result was an average annual temperature close to +7.5 degrees.
– It’s about 0.5 degrees higher than the previous highest value, which was from 2014. At that time, the average temperature was 6.9 degrees, says Erik Kjellström.
Not unexpected
The temperature record is not surprising at all.
– It is partly related to global warming. This week, the WMO (World Meteorological Organization, editor’s note) reported that 2020 will be one of the two warmest years on a global scale.
Although the long-term trend is the increase in annual average temperatures, there are large deviations at the regional level and between different years. But this year, winter and late autumn were mild in Sweden, and the temperature was above the normal ten to twelve months.
– Only May and July were a little colder than usual, says Kjellström and compares with the period 1960-1991.
Milder winters are expected
It has been particularly mild during the year along the Norrland coast, Svealand, and northern Götaland. In the areas around Kalix and Gävle, in northern Dalarna and around Hjälmaren, for example, the average temperature this year has been about 3 degrees higher than normal.
– If we look to the future, in the climatic scenarios, we can expect increasing winters and a shorter snow season with increasing temperatures, which will also be interrupted by more rains and periods of thaw in the north, says Erik Kjellström.
TT: How to receive news about this temperature record?
– There is nothing positive about it. We see that it is warming globally and in Sweden, and research indicates that the climate will continue to change as the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere increases. So the message is that the greenhouse effect must be reduced before it goes too far, says Erik Kjellström.
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