Climate Change Chart of Banjul, Gambia

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature showed a difference of +0.55 °C in the more recent period. This is an unweighted comparison of the monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average, and it describes the aggregate rather than every month. The largest monthly increase was in October, with a difference of +1.37 °C; by contrast, the largest monthly decrease was in May, at -0.53 °C. These are changes in monthly mean temperature, not daytime maximum temperatures.

Changes in rainfall

Averaged across calendar months, mean daily rainfall had a difference of -0.57 mm/day in the more recent period. This unweighted comparison of monthly means describes the overall monthly pattern, not each month, and the figures are daily averages rather than monthly rainfall totals. The largest monthly decrease was in August, where mean daily rainfall had a difference of -3.08 mm/day. This identifies the strongest reported monthly decrease, not a change in monthly total rainfall.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration, averaged across calendar months, had a difference of -0.28 hours/day in the more recent period. Because this is an unweighted average of monthly means, it does not mean that sunshine duration decreased by the same amount in every month. The largest monthly decrease occurred in July, with a difference of -0.78 hours/day in mean daily sunshine duration. This monthly comparison complements the overall average but does not establish the same change for other months.