The Sino-German Track II Dialogue (T2D) on Climate Change and Sustainable Development was launched in December 2020. It is a central exchange format for German and Chinese scientists to support the ministerial dialog.
Antarctica is the driest and coldest continent on Earth. Only in the west temperatures reach the freezing point during the warmest month, January; otherwise, the annual average temperature of - 55°C is far colder. However, the Antarctic is also affected by global climate change: it is warming up, especially around the Antarctic Peninsula, more rapidly than the rest of the world.
Global mean surface air temperature has risen gradually since the age of industrialisation. It is now accepted as scientifically proven that we humans are responsible for a significant part of this increase. Hence one speaks of anthropogenic, or man-made, climate change.
Climate is described in terms of mean values, characteristic extreme values, and frequency distributions of meteorological parameters such as air pressure, wind, temperature, cloud cover, and precipitation over a certain period of time and larger area.
