Climate Change Chart of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Averaged across calendar months, monthly mean temperature shows a difference of +0.97 °C compared with the earlier reference period; this is an unweighted comparison of month means, not a day-weighted annual average or a measure of daytime maximum temperatures. The largest monthly increase was in December, with a difference of +1.94 °C. By contrast, the largest monthly decrease was in May, at -0.13 °C; these identify the strongest month-specific changes in opposite directions, rather than describing every month.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall averaged across calendar months had a difference of -0.10 mm/day in the more recent period. This unweighted average of monthly means describes the aggregate across calendar months, not a day-weighted annual average or a monthly rainfall total. The largest monthly increase was in January, with a difference of +0.24 mm/day, while the largest monthly decrease was in December, with a difference of -0.81 mm/day. These contrasting month-specific changes show why the overall mean difference should not be read as a uniform change in daily rainfall throughout the year.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration, averaged across calendar months, had a difference of -0.29 hours/day compared with the earlier reference period. This is an unweighted mean of monthly averages, rather than a day-weighted annual figure. The largest monthly decrease was in July, with a difference of -0.68 hours/day. In December, the largest increase was a difference of +0.13 hours/day; these are specific monthly shifts and do not imply that sunshine changed in the same direction in every month.