Climatic Changes of the Temperature Regime on the Territory of Russia in the 20th and Early 21st Centuries

• Published in: Geography and natural resources Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 99 - 106
• Main Authors: Vasil’ev, D. Yu, Semenov, V. A., Chibilev, A. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-06-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air temperature; Climate change; Earth and Environmental Science; Economic Geography; Extreme values; Geography; High temperature; Inhomogeneity; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Mountain regions; Mountainous areas; Spatial distribution; Summer; Surface temperature; Temperature; Temporal distribution; Temporal variations; Weather stations; Russia; Northern Eurasia; extreme weather events; air surface temperature; heat waves; summer season; climatic changes
• ISSN: 1875-3728; 1875-371X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1875372823020130

An analysis of interannual variability in the surface air temperature of the summer season for individual regions of Russia, as well as for most of its territory between 1930 and 2020, has been performed. For the analysis, average daily air temperature data from 526 stations of the Roshydromet observation network and the ECMWF-ERA and NOAA-CIRES reanalyses are used. Based on the meteorological station’s observations and on the calculated number of days with extreme temperature values, the spatiotemporal distribution of ground air temperature for some summer months and for the summer season as a whole are evaluated. It is established that, over the past 60 years, the number of days with extremely high temperatures increased by a factor of 1.5 in most of Russia, with the largest number of such days occurring in July. Both the secular records of average monthly air temperature in the summer months as well as the absolute maximum temperature are established to be extreme. For the 30-year-long periods of instrumental observations, the maximum air temperature exceeded +39°C in some regions of Russia. It is shown that abnormally hot years have been unprecedented in the history of meteorological observations in Russia in terms of both record temperature values and the duration. The temperature regime of most areas of Russia is characterized by a spatiotemporal inhomogeneity. The analysis of temporal variation of extreme air temperature values suggests that the circumpolar and high-mountain areas are characterized by a fall in temperature in the summer months, whereas the temperate climate zones and southern regions of the country undergo a rise in temperature. It is established that, at the end of the 20th century and the early 21st century, the number of days with extremely high surface air temperature increased in the territory of Russia, which may be a precondition for the occurrence of dangerous meteorological phenomena.