Optimal detection and attribution of climate change: sensitivity of results to climate model differences

Fingerprint techniques for the detection of anthropogenic climate change aim to distinguish the climate response to anthropogenic forcing from responses to other external influences and from internal climate variability. All these responses and the characteristics of internal variability are typically estimated from climate model data. We evaluate the sensitivity of detection and attribution results to the use of response and variability estimates from two different coupled ocean atmosphere general circulation models (HadCM2, developed at the Hadley Centre, and ECHAM3/LSG from the MPI für Meteorologie and Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum). The models differ in their response to greenhouse gas and direct sulfate aerosol forcing and also in the structure of their internal variability. This leads to differences in the estimated amplitude and the significance level of anthropogenic signals in observed 50-year summer (June, July, August) surface temperature trends. While the detection of anthropogenic influence on climate is robust to intermodel differences, our ability to discriminate between the greenhouse gas and the sulfate aerosol signals is not. An analysis of the recent warming, and the warming that occurred in the first half of the twentieth century, suggests that simulations forced with combined changes in natural (solar and volcanic) and anthropogenic (greenhouse gas and sulfate aerosol) forcings agree best with the observations.     

An updated assessment of the risks from climate change based on research published since the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report

The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) published in 2007 presents the most complete and authoritative assessment of the status of scientific knowledge on all aspects of climate change. This paper presents an updated assessment of the risks from anthropogenic climate change, based on a comprehensive review of the pertinent scientific literature published since finalisation of the AR4. Many risks are now assessed as stronger than in the AR4, including the risk of large sea-level rise already in the current century, the amplification of global warming due to biological and geological carbon-cycle feedbacks, a large magnitude of “committed warming” currently concealed by a strong aerosol mask, substantial increases in climate variability and extreme weather events, and the risks to marine ecosystems from climate change and ocean acidification. Some topics remain the subject of intense scientific debate, such as past and future changes in tropical cyclone activity and the risk of large-scale Amazon forest dieback. The rise in greenhouse gas emissions and concentrations has accelerated recently, and it is expected to accelerate further in the absence of targeted policy interventions. Taken together, these findings point to an increased urgency of implementing mitigation policies as well as comprehensive and equitable adaptation policies.     

SROCC:海洋热含量变化评估

工业革命以来,大气中温室气体不断增加,驱动了全球变暖。IPCC第五次评估报告(AR5)指出,人类排放的温室气体导致的地球系统能量增加中90%以上都被海洋吸收,使得海洋增暖,海洋热含量增加。IPCC最新发布的《气候变化中的海洋和冰冻圈特别报告》(SROCC)发现：自1970年以来,几乎确定海洋上层2000 m在持续增暖。1993—2017年间的增暖速率至少为1969—1993年的2倍,体现出显著的变暖增强趋势。此外,在20世纪90年代以后,2000 m以下的深海也已观测到了变暖信号,尤其是在南大洋(30°S以南)。在1970—2017年间,南大洋上层2000 m储存了全球海洋约35%~43%的热量,在2005—2017年期间增加到45%~62%。基于耦合气候模型预估,几乎可确定海洋将在21世纪持续增暖,2018—2100年间海洋热含量上升幅度可能是1970—2017年间的5~7倍(RCP8.5情景)或2~4倍(RCP2.6情景)。变暖导致的热膨胀效应贡献了1993年以来全球海平面上升的约43%。     

Correlation between climate sensitivity and aerosol forcing and its implication for the “climate trap”

Climate sensitivity and aerosol forcing are dominant uncertain properties of the global climate system. Their estimates based on the inverse approach are interdependent as historical temperature records constrain possible combinations. Nevertheless, many literature projections of future climate are based on the probability density of climate sensitivity and an independent aerosol forcing without considering the interdependency of such estimates. Here we investigate how large such parameter interdependency affects the range of future warming in two distinct settings: one following the A1B emission scenario till the year 2100 and the other assuming a shutdown of all greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions in the year 2020. We demonstrate that the range of projected warming decreases in the former case, but considerably broadens in the latter case, if the correlation between climate sensitivity and aerosol forcing is taken into account. Our conceptual study suggests that, unless the interdependency between the climate sensitivity and aerosol forcing estimates is properly considered, one could underestimate a risk involving the “climate trap”, an unpalatable situation with a high climate sensitivity in which a very drastic mitigation may counter-intuitively accelerate the warming by unmasking the hidden warming due to aerosols.     

Climatic changes associated with a global “2°C-stabilization” scenario simulated by the ECHAM5/MPI-OM coupled climate model

In this study, concentrations of the well-mixed greenhouse gases as well as the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations are prescribed to the ECHAM5/MPI-OM coupled climate model so that the simulated global warming does not exceed 2°C relative to pre-industrial times. The climatic changes associated with this so-called “2°C-stabilization” scenario are assessed in further detail, considering a variety of meteorological and oceanic variables. The climatic changes associated with such a relatively weak climate forcing supplement the recently published fourth assessment report by the IPCC in that such a stabilization scenario can only be achieved by mitigation initiatives. Also, the impact of the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations on the simulated climatic changes is investigated. For this particular climate model, the 2°C-stabilization scenario is characterized by the following atmospheric concentrations of the well-mixed greenhouse gases: 418 ppm (CO₂), 2,026 ppb (CH₄), and 331 ppb (N₂O), 786 ppt (CFC-11) and 486 ppt (CFC-12), respectively. These greenhouse gas concentrations correspond to those for 2020 according to the SRES A1B scenario. At the same time, the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations are changed to the level in 2100 (again, according to the SRES A1B scenario), with a global anthropogenic sulphur dioxide emission of 28 TgS/year leading to a global anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load of 0.23 TgS. The future changes in climate associated with the 2°C-stabilization scenario show many of the typical features of other climate change scenarios, including those associated with stronger climatic forcings. That are a pronounced warming, particularly at high latitudes accompanied by a marked reduction of the sea-ice cover, a substantial increase in precipitation in the tropics as well as at mid- and high latitudes in both hemispheres but a marked reduction in the subtropics, a significant strengthening of the meridional temperature gradient between the tropical upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere in the extratropics accompanied by a pronounced intensification of the westerly winds in the lower stratosphere, and a strengthening of the westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics throughout the troposphere. The magnitudes of these changes, however, are somewhat weaker than for the scenarios associated with stronger global warming due to stronger climatic forcings, such as the SRES A1B scenario. Some of the climatic changes associated with the 2°C-stabilization are relatively strong with respect to the magnitude of the simulated global warming, i.e., the pronounced warming and sea-ice reduction in the Arctic region, the strengthening of the meridional temperature gradient at the northern high latitudes and the general increase in precipitation. Other climatic changes, i.e., the El Niño like warming pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean and the corresponding changes in the distribution of precipitation in the tropics and in the Southern Oscillation, are not as markedly pronounced as for the scenarios with a stronger global warming. A higher anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load (for 2030 as compared to the level in 2100 according to the SRES A1B scenario) generally weakens the future changes in climate, particularly for precipitation. The most pronounced effects occur in the Northern Hemisphere and in the tropics, where also the main sources of anthropogenic sulphate aerosols are located.     

Quantifying the contributions of anthropogenic and natural forcings to climate changes over arid-semiarid areas during 1946–2005

In this study, the contributions from changes in man-made greenhouse gases (GHG), anthropogenic aerosols (AA), and land use (LU), as well as natural solar and volcanic (NAT) forcing changes, to observed changes in surface air temperature (T) and precipitation (P) over global land, especially over arid-semiarid areas, during 1946–2005 are quantified using observations and climate model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Results show that the anthropogenic (ANT) forcings dominate the ubiquitous surface warming seen in observations and lead to slight increases in precipitation over most land areas, while the NAT forcing leads to small cooling over land. GHG increases are the primary factor responsible for the anthropogenic climate change, while the AA forcing offsets a large part of the GHG-induced warming and P changes. The LU forcing generally contributes little to the T and P changes from 1946 to 2005 over most land areas. Unlike the consistent temperature changes among most model simulations, precipitation changes display a large spread among the models and are incomparable with the observations in spatial distributions and magnitude, mainly due to its large internal variability that varies among individual model runs. Using an optimal fingerprinting method, we find that the observed warming over land during 1946–2005 can be largely attributed to the ANT forcings, and the combination of the ANT and NAT forcings can explain about 85~95% of the observed warming trend over global land as well as over most arid-semiarid regions such as Northern China. However, the anthropogenic influences on precipitation over the past 60 years are generally undetectable over most land areas, including most arid-semiarid regions. This indicates that internal variability is still larger than the forced change for land precipitation.     

IPCC AR6报告解读：水循环变化

水循环在全球和区域气候变化中扮演重要角色,与全球变暖背景下水循环变化密切相关的淡水资源短缺、副热带干旱区扩张、极端旱涝灾害频发等问题日益突出,严重制约生态系统和人类社会的可持续发展。在IPCC第六次评估报告中,第一工作组首次单独设立一章,即第八章,用于系统性评估全球水循环变化。评估显示,自20世纪中叶以来,人类活动已经显著地改变了全球水循环,包括大气湿度和降水强度的整体性增加,全球干旱模态改变,南半球风暴轴向极地移动等。已经发生的水循环变化受到温室气体、气溶胶、土地利用在内的多种人类强迫的影响,而未来全球水循环变化将逐渐由温室气体主导。     

Shortened Duration of Global Warming Slowdowns with Elevated Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Continuous emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases(GHGs) and aerosols in the last 160 years have resulted in an increasing trend of global mean surface temperatures(GMSTs). Due to interactions with natural variability,rates of the combined anthropogenically and naturally induced warming trends are characterized by significant slowdowns and speedups on decadal timescales. Here, by analyzing observed and model-simulated data, we investigate how the duration of these episodes will change with different strengths of GHG and aerosol forcing. We found that the duration of warming slowdowns can be more than 30 yr with a slower rate of anthropogenic emissions but would shorten to about 5 yr with a higher one. This duration reduction depends on both the magnitude of the climate response to anthropogenic forcing and the strength of the internal variability. Moreover, the warming slowdowns can still occur even towards the end of this century under high emissions scenarios but with significantly shortened duration.     

Direct Radiative Forcing of Anthropogenic Aerosols over Oceans from Satellite Observations

Anthropogenic aerosols play an important role in the atmospheric energy balance. Anthropogenic aerosol optical depth (AOD) and its accompanying shortwave radiative forcing (RF) are usually simulated by nu- merical models. Recently, with the development of space-borne instruments and sophisticated retrieval algorithms, it has become possible to estimate aerosol radiative forcing based on satellite observations. In this study, we have estimated shortwave direct radiative forcing due to anthropogenic aerosols over oceans in all-sky conditions by combining clouds and the Single Scanner Footprint data of the Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES/SSF) experiment, which provide measurements of upward shortwave fluxes at the top of atmosphere, with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol and cloud products. We found that globally averaged aerosol radiative forcing over oceans in the clear-sky conditions and all-sky conditions were -1.03±0.48 W m-2 and -0.34 ±0.16 W m-2, respectively. Direct radiative forcing by anthropogenic aerosols shows large regional and seasonal variations. In some regions and in particular seasons, the magnitude of direct forcing by anthropogenic aerosols can be comparable to the forcing of greenhouse gases. However, it shows that aerosols caused the cooling effect, rather than warming effect from global scale, which is different from greenhouse gases.     

Competing influences of greenhouse warming and aerosols on Asian summer monsoon circulation and rainfall

In this paper, we have compared and contrasted competing influences of greenhouse gases (GHG) warming and aerosol forcing on Asian summer monsoon circulation and rainfall based on CMIP5 historical simulations. Under GHG-only forcing, the land warms much faster than the ocean, magnifying the pre-industrial climatological land-ocean thermal contrast and hemispheric asymmetry, i.e., warmer northern than southern hemisphere. A steady increasing warm-ocean-warmer-land (WOWL) trend has been in effect since the 1950’s substantially increasing moisture transport from adjacent oceans, and enhancing rainfall over the Asian monsoon regions. However, under GHG warming, increased atmospheric stability due to strong reduction in mid-tropospheric and near surface relative humidity coupled to an expanding subsidence areas, associated with the Deep Tropical Squeeze (DTS, Lau and Kim, 2015b) strongly suppress monsoon convection and rainfall over subtropical and extratropical land, leading to a weakening of the Asian monsoon meridional circulation. Increased anthropogenic aerosol emission strongly masks WOWL, by over 60% over the northern hemisphere, negating to a large extent the rainfall increase due to GHG warming, and leading to a further weakening of the monsoon circulation, through increasing atmospheric stability, most likely associated with aerosol solar dimming and semi-direct effects. Overall, we find that GHG exerts stronger positive rainfall sensitivity, but less negative circulation sensitivity in SASM compared to EASM. In contrast, aerosols exert stronger negative impacts on rainfall, but less negative impacts on circulation in EASM compared to SASM.     

20世纪中国气候变暖的归因分析

Progress in the attribution of climate warming in China for the 20th century is summarized. Three sets of climate model experiments including both coupled and uncoupled runs have been used in the attribution analyses. Comparison of climate model results with the observations proves that in the 20th century, especially in the recent half century, climate warming in China is closely related to the increasing of the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, while sulfate aerosol should also have contributions. When both external forcing and natural forcing agents are prescribed, coupled climate models have better results in producing the observed variation of temperature in China. The role of oceanic forcing is also emphasized in the attribution analyses. The observed climate warming of China in the 1920s could not be reproduced in any set of climate model simulations.     

气候变化的归因与预估模拟研究

本文总结了近五年来中国科学院大气物理研究所在气候变暖的归因模拟与预估研究上的主要进展。研究表明,利用海温、太阳辐射和温室气体等实际强迫因子驱动大气环流模式,能够较为合理地模拟全球平均地表气温在20世纪的演变,但是难以模拟出包括北大西洋涛动／北极涛动和南极涛动在内的高纬度环流的长期变化趋势。利用温室气体和硫酸盐气溶胶等“历史资料”驱动气候系统模式,能够较好地模拟出20世纪后期的全球增暖,但如果要再现20世纪前期(1940年代)的变暖,还需同时考虑太阳辐射等自然外强迫因子。20世纪中国气温演变的耦合模式模拟技巧,较之全球平均情况要低;中国气候在1920年代的变暖机理目前尚不清楚。对于近50年中国东部地区“南冷北暖”、“南涝北旱”的气候变化,基于大气环流模式特别是区域气候模式的数值试验表明,夏季硫酸盐气溶胶的负辐射效应超过了温室气体的增暖效应,从而对变冷产生贡献。但现有的数值模拟证据,不足以说明气溶胶增加对“南涝北旱”型降水异常有贡献。20世纪中期以来,青藏高原主体存在明显增温趋势,温室气体浓度的增加对这种增暖有显著贡献。多模式集合预估的未来气候变化表明,21世纪全球平均温度将继续增暖,增温幅度因不同排放情景而异;中国大陆年均表面气温的增暖与全球同步,但增幅在东北、西部和华中地区较大,冬季升温幅度高于夏季、日最低温度升幅要强于日最高温度;全球增暖有可能对我国中东部植被的地理分布产生影响。伴随温室气体增加所导致的夏季平均温度升高,极端温度事件增多;在更暖的气候背景下,中国大部分地区总降水将增多,极端降水强度加大且更频繁发生,极端降水占总降水的比例也将增大。全球增暖有可能令大洋热盐环流减弱,但是减弱的幅度因模式而异。全球增暖可能不是导致北太平洋副热带－热带经圈环流自20世纪70年代以来变弱的原因。文章同时指出了模式预估结果中存在的不确定性。     

温室气体和硫酸盐气溶胶的辐射强迫作用

对GOALS4 .0海 陆 气耦合模式的相关部分进行了改进 ,主要改进包括温室气体的扩充和硫酸盐气溶胶“显式”方案的引入 ,并引入 2 0世纪温室气体的实际浓度变化以及硫循环模式模拟的硫酸盐气溶胶的三维全球浓度分布 ,模拟了温室气体和硫酸盐气溶胶造成的辐射强迫的空间分布和时间变化。全球平均的温室气体和硫酸盐气溶胶的辐射强迫分别为 2 .17W /m2 和 - 0 .2 9W /m2 ;温室气体造成的辐射强迫在空间上呈现明显的纬向结构 ,最大值 (大于 2 .5W/m2 )和最小值 (小于 1W /m2 )分别位于副热带和两极地区 ,在北半球主要工业区硫酸盐气溶胶的辐射强迫绝对值接近温室气体的辐射强迫值 (大于 - 2 .0W /m2 )。     

Future impact of anthropogenic sulfate aerosol on North Atlantic climate

We examine the simulated future change of the North Atlantic winter climate influenced by anthropogenic greenhouses gases and sulfate aerosol. Two simulations performed with the climate model ECHAM4/OPYC3 are investigated: a simulation forced by greenhouse gases and a simulation forced by greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosol. Only the direct aerosol effect on the clear-sky radiative fluxes is considered. The sulfate aerosol has a significant impact on temperature, radiative quantities, precipitation and atmospheric dynamics. Generally, we find a similar, but weaker future climate response if sulfate aerosol is considered additionally. Due to the induced negative top-of-the-atmosphere radiative forcing, the future warming is attenuated. We find no significant future trends in North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index in both simulations. However, the aerosol seems to have a balancing effect on the occurence of extreme NAO events. The simulated correlation patterns of the NAO index with temperature and precipitation, respectively, agree well with observations up to the present. The extent of the regions influenced by the NAO tends to be reduced under strong greenhouse gas forcing. If sulfate is included and the warming is smaller, this tendency is reversed. Also, the future decrease in baroclinicity is smaller due to the aerosols’ cooling effect and the poleward shift in track density is partly offset. Our findings imply that in simulations where aerosol cooling is neglected, the magnitude of the future warming over the North Atlantic region is overestimated, and correlation patterns differ from those based on the future simulation including aerosols.     

全球变暖停滞的形成机制研究进展

工业革命以来人类活动带来的温室气体日益增加,导致全球气温持续升高。然而,1998年以来全球变暖出现了停滞(hiatus)现象。本文回顾了近年来有关全球变暖停滞的研究进展,着重讨论变暖停滞的物理机制。目前有关变暖停滞的机制有两种观点:一种观点认为全球变暖停滞是由于外强迫造成的,另一种则认为是自然变率产生的。外强迫的观点主要归结为太阳活动强迫、火山喷发气溶胶强迫、人类活动产生的气溶胶强迫以及平流层水汽强迫四种作用。自然变率的观点则认为人类活动产生的多余热量进入到深海,尤其是海表700 m以下,且认为主要是由于海洋的作用。持这种观点的又分两种意见,一种认为是太平洋年代际振荡的影响,尤其是赤道东太平洋海表温度变冷;另一种则认为是大西洋经向翻转流的影响。目前主流观点认为,自然变率是产生全球变暖停滞的主要机制,人类活动产生的多余热量进入到深海,不过多余热量进入哪些海域尚存争议。     

Abrupt summer warming and changes in temperature extremes over Northeast Asia since the mid-1990s: Drivers and physical processes

This study investigated the drivers and physical processes for the abrupt decadal summer surface warming and increases in hot temperature extremes that occurred over Northeast Asia in the mid-1990 s. Observations indicate an abrupt increase in summer mean surface air temperature(SAT) over Northeast Asia since the mid-1990 s. Accompanying this abrupt surface warming, significant changes in some temperature extremes, characterized by increases in summer mean daily maximum temperature(Tmax), daily minimum temperature(Tmin), annual hottest day temperature(TXx), and annual warmest night temperature(TNx) were observed. There were also increases in the frequency of summer days(SU) and tropical nights(TR).Atmospheric general circulation model experiments forced by changes in sea surface temperature(SST)/ sea ice extent(SIE),anthropogenic greenhouse gas(GHG) concentrations, and anthropogenic aerosol(AA) forcing, relative to the period 1964–93, reproduced the general patterns of observed summer mean SAT changes and associated changes in temperature extremes,although the abrupt decrease in precipitation since the mid-1990 s was not simulated. Additional model experiments with different forcings indicated that changes in SST/SIE explained 76% of the area-averaged summer mean surface warming signal over Northeast Asia, while the direct impact of changes in GHG and AA explained the remaining 24% of the surface warming signal. Analysis of physical processes indicated that the direct impact of the changes in AA(through aerosol–radiation and aerosol–cloud interactions), mainly related to the reduction of AA precursor emissions over Europe, played a dominant role in the increase in TXx and a similarly important role as SST/SIE changes in the increase in the frequency of SU over Northeast Asia via AA-induced coupled atmosphere–land surface and cloud feedbacks, rather than through a direct impact of AA changes on cloud condensation nuclei. The modelling results also imply that the abrupt summer surface warming and increases in hot temperature extremes over Northeast Asia since the mid-1990 s will probably sustain in the next few decades as GHG concentrations continue to increase and AA precursor emissions over both North America and Europe continue to decrease.     

Responses of East Asian summer monsoon to historical SST and atmospheric forcing during 1950–2000

The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation and summer rainfall over East China have experienced large decadal changes during the latter half of the 20th century. To investigate the potential causes behind these changes, a series of simulations using the national center for atmospheric research (NCAR) community atmospheric model version 3 (CAM3) and the geophysical fluid dynamics laboratory (GFDL) atmospheric model version 2.1 (AM2.1) are analyzed. These simulations are forced separately with different historical forcing, namely tropical sea surface temperature (SSTs), global SSTs, greenhouse gases plus aerosols, and a combination of global SSTs and greenhouse gases plus aerosols. This study focuses on the relative roles of these individual forcings in causing the observed monsoon and rainfall changes over East Asia during 1950–2000. The simulations from both models show that the SST forcing, primarily from the Tropics, is able to induce most of the observed weakening of the EASM circulation, while the greenhouse gas plus (direct) aerosol forcing increases the land-sea thermal contrast and thus enhances the EASM circulation. The results suggest that the recent warming in the Tropics, especially the warming associated with the tropical interdecadal variability centered over the central and eastern Pacific, is a primary cause for the weakening of the EASM since the late 1970s. However, a realistic simulation of the relatively small-scale rainfall change pattern over East China remains a challenge for the global models.     

全球变暖趋缓研究进展

近十几年来,全球年平均表面温度上升趋势显示出停滞状态,即全球变暖趋缓,这引起了国际社会的广泛关注,同时也引发了对全球变暖的质疑,各国气候学家正努力就全球变暖趋缓的事实、原因及其可能影响展开研究。本文综述了目前国内外对全球变暖趋缓的研究结果。多数科学家认可近十几年来全球变暖停滞的事实,并认为太阳活动处于低位相、大气气溶胶（自然和人为）增加以及海洋吸收热量是变暖停滞的可能影响因子,其中海洋（尤其是700米以下的深海）对热量的储存可能是变暖停滞的关键。国际耦合模式比较计划第5阶段中的模式并未精确地描述各种有利降温影响因子的近期位相演变,因而其模拟的近期增暖趋势较观测偏强。由此推断,变暖停滞主要是自然因素造成的,并且预测变暖趋缓将在近几年或几十年内结束（依赖于太平洋年代际振荡的位相转变）,未来气温将仍主要受到温室气体增加的影响而表现出明显的上升趋势。因此,目前的全球变暖趋缓不大可能改变到本世纪末全球大幅度变暖带来的风险。本综述展望未来的研究热点包括:精确估算全球气温和海洋热含量的变率及其不确定性,海洋年代际信号（太平洋以及大西洋的年代际振荡）的转型机制,存储在深海的热量将在何时返回海洋表面及其对区域气候的潜在影响。     

Impact of Direct Radiative Forcing of Anthropogenic Aerosols on Diurnal Temperature Range in January in Eastern China

This study investigates the changes in January diurnal temperature range(DTR) in China during 1961-2000.The observed DTR changes during 1981-2000 relative to 1961-80 are first analyzed based on the daily temperature data at 546 weather stations.These observed DTR changes are classified into six cases depending on the changes in daily maximum and minimum temperatures,and then the occurrence frequency and magnitude of DTR change in each case are presented.Three transient simulations are then performed to understand the impact of greenhouse gases(GHGs) and aerosol direct forcing on DTR change:one without anthropogenic radiative forcing,one with anthropogenic GHGs,and another one with the combined forcing of GHGs and five species of anthropogenic aerosols.The predicted daily DTR changes during the years 1981-2000 are also classified into six cases and are compared with the observations.Results show that the previously proposed reason for DTR reduction,a stronger nocturnal warming than a daytime warming,explains only 19.8%of the observed DTR reduction days.DTR reductions are found to generally occur in northeastern China,coinciding with significant regional warming.The simulation with GHG forcing alone reproduces this type of DTR reduction with an occurrence frequency of 32.9%,which is larger than the observed value.Aerosol direct forcing reduces DTR mainly by daytime cooling.Consideration of aerosol cooling improves the simulation of occurrence frequencies of different types of DTR changes as compared to the simulation with GHGs alone,but it cannot improve the prediction of the magnitude of DTR changes.     

Multi-fingerprint detection and attribution analysis of greenhouse gas, greenhouse gas-plus-aerosol and solar forced climate change

 A multi-fingerprint analysis is applied to the detection and attribution of anthropogenic climate change. While a single fingerprint is optimal for the detection of climate change, further tests of the statistical consistency of the detected climate change signal with model predictions for different candidate forcing mechanisms require the simultaneous application of several fingerprints. Model-predicted climate change signals are derived from three anthropogenic global warming simulations for the period 1880 to 2049 and two simulations forced by estimated changes in solar radiation from 1700 to 1992. In the first global warming simulation, the forcing is by greenhouse gas only, while in the remaining two simulations the direct influence of sulfate aerosols is also included. From the climate change signals of the greenhouse gas only and the average of the two greenhouse gas-plus-aerosol simulations, two optimized fingerprint patterns are derived by weighting the model-predicted climate change patterns towards low-noise directions. The optimized fingerprint patterns are then applied as a filter to the observed near-surface temperature trend patterns, yielding several detection variables. The space-time structure of natural climate variability needed to determine the optimal fingerprint pattern and the resultant signal-to-noise ratio of the detection variable is estimated from several multi-century control simulations with different CGCMs and from instrumental data over the last 136 y. Applying the combined greenhouse gas-plus-aerosol fingerprint in the same way as the greenhouse gas only fingerprint in a previous work, the recent 30-y trends (1966–1995) of annual mean near surface temperature are again found to represent a significant climate change at the 97.5% confidence level. However, using both the greenhouse gas and the combined forcing fingerprints in a two-pattern analysis, a substantially better agreement between observations and the climate model prediction is found for the combined forcing simulation. Anticipating that the influence of the aerosol forcing is strongest for longer term temperature trends in summer, application of the detection and attribution test to the latest observed 50-y trend pattern of summer temperature yielded statistical consistency with the greenhouse gas-plus-aerosol simulation with respect to both the pattern and amplitude of the signal. In contrast, the observations are inconsistent with the greenhouse-gas only climate change signal at a 95% confidence level for all estimates of climate variability. The observed trend 1943–1992 is furthermore inconsistent with a hypothesized solar radiation change alone at an estimated 90% confidence level. Thus, in contrast to the single pattern analysis, the two pattern analysis is able to discriminate between different forcing hypotheses in the observed climate change signal. The results are subject to uncertainties associated with the forcing history, which is poorly known for the solar and aerosol forcing, the possible omission of other important forcings, and inevitable model errors in the computation of the response to the forcing. Further uncertainties in the estimated significance levels arise from the use of model internal variability simulations and relatively short instrumental observations (after subtraction of an estimated greenhouse gas signal) to estimate the natural climate variability. The resulting confidence limits accordingly vary for different estimates using different variability data. Despite these uncertainties, however, we consider our results sufficiently robust to have some confidence in our finding that the observed climate change is consistent with a combined greenhouse gas and aerosol forcing, but inconsistent with greenhouse gas or solar forcing alone. Received: 28 April 1996 / Accepted: 27 January 1997