Riscuri şi Catastrofe (Oct 2017)
Considerations upon extreme temperatures on Romanian territory.
Abstract
In this article we analyse the evolution in time of extreme temperatures significant for Romania with a focus on absolute extreme temperatures recorded on the overall present teritory. After thoroughly investigating the credible sources we quoted in our bibliography, we present in chronological order the records for absolute minimum temperatures, and absolute maximum temperatures which were measured at the meteorological stations on the present territory of Romania, according to the availability of the data, i.e. the last two decades of the XIXth century up until 2017. We classify and discuss the sources of climatological data in the form of minimum and maximum temperatures. The measurements of meteorological parameters on the current national territory were recorded since 1770 at Iași (cf. Dissescu 1931 and also http://www.meteoromania.ro/anm2/despre-noi/istoric/ - page in Romanian as of 30.03.2017). For a systematic approach with credible data, at least another century passed, until Ștefan Hepites (1851-1922) founded in 1884 in Bucharest the Central Meteorological Institute of Romania (I.M.C. in Romanian)(Dissescu, 1931 and cf. the ANM web page quoted earlier). The newly created Institute did not include the meteorological stations which were present at that time in Transylvania, but only the ones on the official Romanian teritory of 1859-1918 made up of Moldavia and Wallachia. This paper argues in favour of the process of global warming (GW) and its effects upon the evolution of extreme temperature values in a certain time interval. The conclusions stemming from the investigation of the dataset in this paper should provide a helpful and necessary point of departure in subsequent research of climatologists in their quest of identitifying the correct model of future climate. Our article should be regarded as part of a series of analyses of the variability of the climate in Romania, the recent influence of global warming on it and on certain climatological parameters in particular.
Keywords
