Review of the Research Progress in Global Warming Hiatus

From 1998 to 2012, the warming rate of global mean surface air temperature showed significantly slower than before, which is referred to as the global warming hiatus. The causes and underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon are currently a hot topic of climatic change research. The research significance of global warming hiatus was discussed and relevant research progress was reviewed from two perspectives of external forcings and internal variabilities. In term of external forcings, global warming hiatus is mainly affected by solar activities, volcanic eruptions, aerosols and stratospheric water vapor. With respect to internal variabilities, the warming rate of global mean surface air temperature slowdown is mainly related to the natural variabilities of the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean and influenced by the related heat redistribution processes. During the global warming hiatus period, some energy is transferred and restored in the deep ocean so as to modulate the global warming rate, rather than there is a reduction of global total energy in the climate system. In addition, the partially coupled forcing pacemaker model experiment was also reviewed. The pacemaker experiment is a powerful tool for studying the characteristics, causes and underlying mechanisms of the global warming hiatus. Besides, some challenges resulted from the global warming hiatus, including the global energy imbalance, data, simulation and related policy-making were summarized, and future research directions were also discussed.