Climate Change Chart of Belmopan, Belize

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +0.79 °C compared with the earlier reference period. This is an unweighted average of the calendar-month means, not a day-weighted annual figure, and it describes the aggregate rather than implying that every month changed by the same amount. The largest monthly increase was in October, with a difference of +1.33 °C. By contrast, March had the largest monthly decrease, a difference of -0.01 °C. These are changes in monthly mean temperature, not daytime maximum temperatures; the two extrema describe particular months, not a uniform pattern across the year.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall, averaged across calendar months, had a difference of +0.76 mm/day compared with the earlier period. This unweighted average summarizes the calendar-month means; it is not a day-weighted annual average or a monthly rainfall total, and does not mean that every month had the same change. The largest monthly increase occurred in November, with a difference of +2.61 mm/day in mean daily rainfall. The largest monthly decrease was in July, at a difference of -0.84 mm/day. These monthly differences describe average daily amounts within those months, rather than accumulated rainfall totals.

Changes in sunshine duration

Across calendar months, mean daily sunshine duration had an unweighted mean difference of -0.04 hours/day. This summarizes the month-by-month averages rather than a day-weighted annual mean, and does not imply that daily sunshine changed by this amount in every month. Monthly differences varied in direction: July recorded the largest increase, a difference of +0.92 hours/day, while June had the largest decrease, a difference of -0.53 hours/day. These figures refer to mean daily sunshine duration in each named month, not total sunshine hours accumulated over the month.