The Climate Challenge

Introduction                Letter               50 Years

The Climate Challenge

The warming of Connecticut’s climate threatens to undo much of the environmental progress of past decades that is illustrated in these pages. Nearly every environmental indicator in the 2021 annual report has a tie to global warming. As depicted in the charts below, the trend over the last sixty years suggests that Connecticut's climate is getting warmer and there’s more precipitation.¹

The state’s warming climate is evidenced by increased annual average temperature, precipitation, cooling degree days (CDD) and decreasing heating degree days (HDD) since 1960.

The trend for annual average HDD has decreased while the trend for annual average CDD has increased since 1960. Degree days reflect changes in climate and are a proxy for the energy demand for heating or cooling.

Annual precipitation for 2021 was 20 percent higher (54.94) and the number of days with rainfall greater than one inch (16) was 37 percent higher than the annual average since 1960. It is predicted that as the climate warms, severe weather events like prolonged drought and extreme rainfall will become more frequent.²

The average annual temperature for 2021 was 52.7 degrees Fahrenheit (°F). Between 1960 and 2020, the average annual temperature was 50.43°F. The average number of days annually, since 1960, with temperatures greater than 90°F is now 15.2. However, 2021 had 18 days greater than 90°F.

 

_{Technical Notes: *All weather data is for the weather station at Bradley International Airport (BDL).} 

_{—————}

_{1 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service; w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=box.
2 Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP); portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/climatechange/publications/BuildingaLowCarbonFutureforCTGC3Recommendationspdf.pdf}