Inferring the anthropogenic contribution to local temperature extremes

Journal Article · Tue Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1221461110· OSTI ID:1407185

Stone, Dáithí A. ^[1]; Paciorek, Christopher J. ^[2]; Prabhat, . ^[1]; Pall, Pardeep ^[1]; Wehner, Michael ^[1]

---

1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Computational Research Division
2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Department of Statistics

Here, in PNAS, Hansen et al. document an observed planet-wide increase in the frequency of extremely hot months and a decrease in the frequency of extremely cold months, consistent with earlier studies. This analysis is achieved through aggregation of gridded monthly temperature measurements from all over the planet. Such aggregation is advantageous in achieving statistical sampling power; however, it sacrifices regional specificity. Lastly, in that light, we find the conclusion of Hansen et al. that “the extreme summer climate anomalies in Texas in 2011, in Moscow in 2010, and in France in 2003 almost certainly would not have occurred in the absence of global warming” to be unsubstantiated by their analysis.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1407185
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 110, Issue 17; ISSN 0027-8424
• Publisher: National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING