Climate Change Chart of Marshall Islands, USA

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Monthly mean temperature averaged across calendar months showed a difference of +0.74 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted average of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual figure or a measure of daytime highs. The largest monthly increase was in December, with a difference of +0.90 °C. These summaries describe period averages and do not mean that every month warmed by the same amount.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall averaged across calendar months had a difference of +0.47 mm/day. The largest monthly increase was in November, at +2.21 mm/day, while the largest decrease was in December, at -2.53 mm/day. These are changes in daily averages, not monthly rainfall totals, and they do not establish how often rain fell on individual days.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.39 hours/day. The largest decrease was in November, with a difference of -0.83 hours/day; in December, the largest increase was much smaller in scale, at +0.05 hours/day. These period comparisons describe average daily hours, not the sunshine a particular day will receive.