Philippine E-Journals

Warming Trends in Legazpi City, Philippines

Raquel V. Francisco | Redmund G. Nacario | Landrico Dalida Jr. | Tolentino B. Moya

 

Abstract:

Concern about global warming led to this study of determining the extent of changing climate in Legazpi City, Philippines. Daily surface minimum and maximum temperatures from 1951 to 2010 were used to interpret the temperature change. The temperatures were annually averaged and subjected to regression analyses. The results showed there was a significant increase of minimum temperature at the rate of 0.26oC per decade. When the whole period was divided into 30-year periods spaced ten years apart, the corresponding distribution curves showed higher range of variability compared to earlier periods suggesting more extreme temperatures. Among the months, May had the warmest nights and the highest rate of warming of 0.42oC/decade. On the other hand, December had the coolest nights and lowest rate of warming of 0.24oC/decade. With regards to maximum temperature, there was no significant change since 1951.