The Climate Challenge

Introduction                Letter

The Climate Challenge*

The warming of Connecticut’s climate threatens to undo much of the environmental progress of past decades that is illustrated in this report. Nearly every environmental indicator in the 2022 annual report has a tie to the climate. The trend over more than sixty years suggests that Connecticut’s climate is getting warmer and there’s more precipitation.

 

The state’s warming climate is evidenced by increasing annual average temperature, precipitation, cooling degree days (CDD), and decreasing heating degree days (HDD)¹  

 

The trend for annual HDD is decreasing while the trend for annual CDD is increasing from 1961 to present. Degree days reflect changes in climate and are a proxy for the energy demand for heating or cooling. It is predicted that as the climate warms, this trend will continue.

Annual precipitation for 2022 was 4.6 percent higher (47.9) than the annual average since 1961. The number of days with rainfall greater than one inch (12) was equal to the annual average since 1961. It is predicted that as the climate warms, severe weather events, such as drought conditions and extreme rainfall will become more frequent.²

The average annual temperature for 2022 was 52.7 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) and the number of days greater than 90°F was 21. Over the last 60 years, the average annual temperature was 50.5°F and the average number of days over 90°F was 15.2. 

 

_{Technical Notes: *Weather data measured at Bradley International Airport (BDL).} 

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¹  _{National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service, Hartford-Bradley International Airport; w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=box.}
²  _{Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), BUILDING A LOW CARBON FUTURE FOR CONNECTICUT
ACHIEVING A 45% GHG REDUCTION BY 2030; portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/climatechange/publications/BuildingaLowCarbonFutureforCTGC3Recommendationspdf.pdf.}