A new perspective on recent global warming: Asymmetric trends of daily maximum and minimum temperature
- National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC (United States)
- Univ. of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk (United Kingdom)
- Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States)
- Bureau of Meterology, Melbourne (Australia)
- Research Institute of Hydrometerological Information, Obninsk, Kalugu (Russian Federation)
- Univ. of Wirswatersrand (South Africa)
- Univ. of Washington, Seattle (United States)
In this work, it was concluded that monthly mean maximum and minimum temperatures for over 50% (10%) of the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere landmass, accounting for 37% of the global landmass, indicate that the rise of the minimum temperature has occurred at a rate three times that of the maximum temperature during the period 1951-90 (0.84[degrees]C versus 0.28[degrees]C). The decrease of the diurnal temperature range is approximately equal to the increase of mean temperature. The asymmetry is detectable in all seasons and in most of the regions studied. The decrease in the daily temperature range is partially related to increases in cloud cover. Furthermore, a large number of atmospheric and surface boundary conditions are shown to differentially affect the maximum and minimum temperature. Linkages of the observed changes in the diurnal temperature range to large-scale climate forcings, such as anthropogenic increases in sulfate aerosols, greenhouse gases, or biomass burning (smoke), remain tentative. Nonetheless, the observed decrease of the diurnal temperature range is clearly important, both scientifically and practically. 36 refs., 9 figs., 5 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6209863
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930133-; CODEN: BAMIAT
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society; (United States), Vol. 74:6; Conference: 73. American Meteorological Society (AMS) annual meeting, Anaheim, CA (United States), 17-22 Jan 1993; ISSN 0003-0007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Climate change uncertainty for daily minimum and maximum temperatures: a model inter-comparison
Analysis of variability and diurnal range of daily temperature in a nested regional climate model: Comparison with observations and doubled CO{sub 2} results
Related Subjects
CLIMATIC CHANGE
DAILY VARIATIONS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
TEMPERATURE MONITORING
CLOUD COVER
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
METEOROLOGY
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
TEMPERATURE RANGE
MONITORING
VARIATIONS
540120* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540110