NOAA – State of the Climate in 2010

State of the Climate in 2010

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Climatic Data Center

As appearing in the June 2011 issue (Vol. 92) of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS).


Supplemental and Summary Materials

Report at a Glance: Highlights (8 pages)

This supplement to the State of the Climate in 2010 draws upon materials from the larger report to provide a summary of key findings.
High Resolution (22.7 MB) | Low Resolution (9.8 MB)

June 28, 2010 Webinar: Briefing Slides (PDF)

This briefing package was used in the webinars associated with the report’s rollout.
Webinar Slides (12 slides)


Full Report

Download Entire Document (218 pages)
Download by Section
  1. Front Matter and Abstract (688 KB) [ Hi Rez (4.3 MB) ]
    1. Title page
    2. Author Affiliations
    3. Table of contents
    4. Abstract
  2. Introduction (845 KB) [ Hi Rez (6.8 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
  3. Global Climate (2.1 MB) [ Hi Rez (38.7 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
    1. Summary
    2. Temperature
    3. Hydrologic cycle
    4. Atmospheric circulation
    5. Earth radiation budget at top-of-atmospher
    6. Atmospheric composition
    7. Land surface properties
  4. Global Oceans (1.6 MB) [ Hi Rez (27.8 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
    1. Overview
    2. Sea surface temperatures
    3. Ocean heat content
    4. Global ocean heat fluxes
    5. Sea surface salinity
    6. Subsurface salinity
    7. Surface currents
    8. Meridional overturning circulation observations in the subtropical North Atlantic
    9. Sea level variations
    10. The global ocean carbon cycle
  5. The Tropics (1.8 MB) [ Hi Rez (32.6 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
    1. Overview
    2. ENSO and the tropical Pacific
    3. The Madden-Julian Oscillation
    4. Tropical intraseasonal activity
    5. Tropical cyclones
    6. Tropical cyclone heat potential
    7. Intertropical Convergence Zones
    8. Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
    9. Indian Ocean dipole
  6. The Arctic (1.1 MB) [ Hi Rez (14.5 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
    1. Overview
    2. Atmosphere
    3. Ocean
    4. Sea-ice cover
    5. Land
    6. Greenland
  7. Antarctica (940 KB) [ Hi Rez (12.6 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
    1. Overview
    2. Circulation
    3. Surface manned and automatic weather station observations
    4. Net precipitation
    5. Seasonal melt extent and duration
    6. Sea-ice extent and concentration
    7. Ozone depletion
  8. Regional Climates (1.9 MB) [ Hi Rez (32.8 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
    1. Overview
    2. North America
    3. Central America and the Caribbean
    4. South America
    5. Africa
    6. Europe
    7. Asia
    8. Oceania
  9. Seasonal Global Summaries (798 KB) [ Hi Rez (9.0 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
  10. References (982 KB) [ Hi Rez (7.3 MB) ]

How to cite the document

  • Citing the complete report:Blunden, J., D. S. Arndt, and M. O. Baringer, Eds., 2011: State of the Climate in 2010. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.92 (6), S1-S266.
  • Citing a chapter (example): Fogt, R. L., , Ed., 2011: Antarctica [in “State of the Climate in 2010”]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.92 (6), S161-171.
  • Citing a section (example): Wovrosh, A. J., S. Barreira, and R. L. Fogt, 2011: [Antarctica] Circulation [in .State of the Climate in 2010.]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.92 (6), S161-S163.