Climate Change Chart of Paris, France

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +1.28 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted average of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime maximum temperatures. The strongest monthly rise was in January, with a difference of +3.08 °C. By contrast, April had the largest monthly decrease, a difference of -0.17 °C. These month-specific extremes describe the largest changes in their respective directions, not a uniform shift across every month.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.14 hours/day compared with the earlier reference period. This is an unweighted average of monthly means, rather than a day-weighted annual figure. The monthly pattern was not uniform: April had the largest increase, a difference of +0.56 hours/day, whereas January had the largest decrease, a difference of -1.00 hours/day. These extremes capture contrasting month-specific changes, not a change that applied equally throughout the year.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall averaged across calendar months had a difference of +0.46 mm/day in the more recent period. This unweighted comparison of monthly means is not a day-weighted annual average, and the figures describe daily amounts rather than monthly totals. The largest monthly increase occurred in June, at a difference of +0.94 mm/day, while April recorded the largest monthly decrease, a difference of -0.19 mm/day. These contrasting monthly changes show why the mean difference should not be taken to describe every month.

Changes in snowfall

Mean daily snowfall averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.25 mm/day in the more recent period; this is an unweighted comparison of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a monthly total. The largest monthly decrease was in February, with a difference of -0.93 mm/day. The overall mean and this monthly decrease describe differences between the reference periods, but do not imply that snowfall changed by the same amount in every month.