Climate Change Chart of Nanjing, China

Overview of climate changes

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.68 hours/day compared with the earlier reference period, an unweighted summary of monthly means rather than a day-weighted annual average. Monthly changes were not uniform: July had the largest decrease, a difference of -1.31 hours/day, while the largest increase was much more modest, in March, at +0.13 hours/day. The overall mean therefore should not be read as a description of every month's sunshine.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall averaged across calendar months had a difference of +0.03 mm/day compared with the earlier reference period. This small aggregate difference summarizes monthly means; it does not mean rainfall changed by the same amount in each month, and these are daily averages rather than monthly totals. The largest monthly increase occurred in July, at +2.02 mm/day, whereas September recorded the largest decrease, a difference of -1.46 mm/day.

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +0.41 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted comparison of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime maximum temperatures. The largest monthly increase was in March, at +1.16 °C, while June had the largest decrease, a difference of -0.42 °C. These monthly extrema show that the overall mean difference does not describe every month.

Changes in snowfall

Mean daily snowfall averaged across calendar months had a difference of +0.24 mm/day compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted comparison of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average or a monthly total. The largest monthly increase was in January, at +1.26 mm/day. That monthly change and the across-month mean describe different summaries, so the mean should not be taken to represent every month.