Numerical simulation study of temperature change over East China in the past millennium

Despite many studies on reconstructing the climate changes over the last millennium in China,the cause of the China’s climate change remains unclear.We used the UVic Earth System Climate Model(UVic Model),an Earth system model of intermediate complexity,to investigate the contributions of climate forcings(e.g.solar insolation variability,anomalous volcanic aerosols,greenhouse gas,solar orbital change,land cover changes,and anthropogenic sulfate aerosols) to surface air temperature over East China in the past millennium.The simulation of the UVic Model could reproduce the three main characteristic periods(e.g.the Medieval Warm Period(MWP),the Little Ice Age(LIA),and the 20th Century Warming Period(20CWP)) of the northern hemisphere and East China,which were consistent with the corresponding reconstructed air temperatures at century scales.The simulation result reflected that the air temperature anomalies of East China were larger than those of the global air temperature during the MWP and the first half of 20CWP and were lower than those during the LIA.The surface air temperature of East China over the past millennium has been divided into three periods in the MWP,four in the LIA,and one in the 20CWP.The MWP of East China was caused primarily by solar insolation and secondarily by volcanic aerosols.The variation of the LIA was dominated by the individual sizes of the contribution of solar insolation variability,greenhouse gas,and volcano aerosols.Greenhouse gas and volcano aerosols were the main forcings of the third and fourth periods of the LIA,respectively.We examined the nonlinear responses among the natural and anthropogenic forcings in terms of surface air temperature over East China.The nonlinear responses between the solar orbit change and anomalous volcano aerosols and those between the greenhouse gases and land cover change(or anthropogenic sulfate aerosols) all contributed approximately 0.2℃ by the end of 20th century.However,the output of the energy-moisture balance atmospheric model from UVic showed no obvious nonlinear responses between anthropogenic and natural forcings.The nonlinear responses among all the climate forcings(both anthropogenic and natural forcings) contributed to a temperature increase of approximately 0.27℃ at the end of the 20th century,accounting for approximately half of the warming during this period;the remainder was due to the climate forcings themselves.     

The Global Warming Debate: A Review of the State of Science

A review of the present status of the global warming science is presented in this paper. The term global warming is now popularly used to refer to the recent reported increase in the mean surface temperature of the earth; this increase being attributed to increasing human activity and in particular to the increased concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) in the atmosphere. Since the mid to late 1980s there has been an intense and often emotional debate on this topic. The various climate change reports (1996, 2001) prepared by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), have provided the scientific framework that ultimately led to the Kyoto protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (particularly carbon dioxide) due to the burning of fossil fuels. Numerous peer-reviewed studies reported in recent literature have attempted to verify several of the projections on climate change that have been detailed by the IPCC reports.The global warming debate as presented by the media usually focuses on the increasing mean temperature of the earth, associated extreme weather events and future climate projections of increasing frequency of extreme weather events worldwide. In reality, the climate change issue is considerably more complex than an increase in the earth’s mean temperature and in extreme weather events. Several recent studies have questioned many of the projections of climate change made by the IPCC reports and at present there is an emerging dissenting view of the global warming science which is at odds with the IPCC view of the cause and consequence of global warming. Our review suggests that the dissenting view offered by the skeptics or opponents of global warming appears substantially more credible than the supporting view put forth by the proponents of global warming. Further, the projections of future climate change over the next fifty to one hundred years is based on insufficiently verified climate models and are therefore not considered reliable at this point in time.     

Long-range forecasts of River Po discharges based on predictable solar activity and a fuzzy neural network model / Prévisions à long terme des débits du Fleuve Pô basées sur l’activité solaire prévisible et sur un modèle de réseau de neurones flou

Abstract

Abstract Is it possible to make seasonal and interannual forecasts of hydrological variables if one cannot predict next week’s rainfall? Contrary to common view, some scientists support the hypothesis that variations in mean global temperature and precipitation are controlled more by external forcing (solar variability and volcanic eruptions) than by increasing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. Temperature and precipitation are connected with special phases of the 11-year sunspot cycle, which coincide with significant accumulation of energetic solar eruptions. Because of the possibility of identifying years with many solar eruptions, the attractive prospect emerges of the long-term hydrological forecasting based on cycles of solar activity. Starting from this assumption, an expert system was built based on a fuzzy neural network model for seasonal and interannual forecasting of the Po River discharge. It was found that indices of solar activity and of global circulation are sufficient to yield useful forecasts of hydrological variables.     

Possible traces of solar activity effect on the surface air temperature of Turkey

In this study we investigate the effects of solar activity on the surface air temperature of Turkey. This enables us to understand existence of solar activity effects on the temperature. We used surface air temperature, pressure and tropospheric absorbing aerosol data as climate parameters and solar flare index data as solar activity indicator. We considered the parameters temperature and flare index data for the period data ranging from the beginning of January 1976 to the end of December 2006, which cover almost three solar cycles, 21st, 22nd and 23rd. However, only the period interval starting from January 1980 up to December 2005 includes the tropospheric absorbing aerosol data. We found a significant correlation between solar activity and surface air temperature for only cycle 23. We applied multitaper method to obtain the cyclic behavior of surface air temperature data sets. The most pronounced power peaks were found by this transform to be present at 1.2 and 2.5 years, which were reported earlier for some solar activity indicators. We concluded that solar activity effect exists on surface air temperature of Turkey; besides changes of greenhouse gases and tropospheric absorbing aerosols concentration have also a dominant effect on the surface air temperature of Turkey.     

Solar forcing of the Northern hemisphere land air temperature: New data

It has previously been demonstrated that the mean land air temperature of the Northern hemisphere could adequately be associated with a long-term variation of solar activity as given by the length of the approximately 11-year solar cycle. Adding new temperature data for the 1990s and expected values for the next sunspot extrema we test whether the solar cycle length model is still adequate. We find that the residuals are now inconsistent with the pure solar model. We conclude that since around 1990 the type of Solar forcing that is described by the solar cycle length model no longer dominates the long-term variation of the Northern hemisphere land air temperature.     

冬季太阳11年周期活动对大气环流的影响

利用气象场的再分析资料和太阳辐射活动资料,对太阳11年周期活动影响北半球冬季(11月~3月)大气环流的过程进行了统计分析和动力学诊断.根据赤道平流层纬向风准两年振荡(QBO)的东、西风状态对太阳活动效应进行了分类讨论,结果表明：东风态QBO时,太阳活动效应主要集中在赤道平流层中、高层和南半球平流层,强太阳活动时增强的紫外辐射加热了赤道地区的臭氧层,造成平流层低纬明显增温,同时加强了南半球的Brewer-Dobson(B-D)环流,引起南极高纬平流层温度增加;而北半球中高纬的环流主要受行星波的影响,太阳活动影响很小.西风态QBO时,太阳活动效应在北半球更为重要,初冬时强太阳活动除了加热赤道地区臭氧层外,还抑制了北半球的B-D环流,造成赤道平流层温度增加和纬向风梯度在垂直方向的变化,从而改变了对流层两支行星波波导的强度;冬末时在太阳活动调制下,行星波向极波导增强,B-D环流逐渐恢复,造成北半球极地平流层明显增温,同时伴随着赤道区域温度的下降.     

Greenhouse Gases, Aerosols and Reducing Future Climate Uncertainties

The past record of global earth surface temperatures is unable to offer quantitative evidence about the amplitude of climate sensitivity, due to the competing effects of long-lived greenhouse gases and short-lived aerosols. This factor constitutes one of the reasons why uncertainties about climate sensitivity have remained almost unchanged for more than 30 years, and it is also limiting our current capacity to propose reliable climate projections for the coming century. This paper offers a short review of the studies that have dealt with this issue. A number of approaches aim at a process-oriented diagnostic of current models. These studies are in constant progress since the launch of remote-sensing instruments, such as those from the A-train satellite constellation. Past climate fluctuations may also offer some limited possibilities to discriminate the effects of greenhouse gases and aerosols. There is therefore a real hope that climate projections may eventually become more accurate, which would be extremely useful in monitoring global warming during the next decades.     

Sensitivity of surface air temperature change to land use/cover types in China

Using CRU high resolution grid observational temperature and ERA40 reanalysis surface air temperature data during 1960–1999, we investigated the sensitivity of surface air temperature change to land use/cover types in China by subtracting the reanalysis from the observed surface air temperature (observation minus reanalysis, OMR). The results show that there is a stable and systemic impact of land use/cover types on surface air temperature. The surface warming of each land use/cover type reacted differently to global warming. The OMR trends of unused land (⩾0.17 °C/decade), mainly comprised by sandy land, Gobi and bare rock gravel land, are obviously larger than those of the other land use/cover types. The OMR over grassland, farmland and construction land shows a moderate decadal warmingabout 0.12°C/decade, 0.10°C/decade, 0.12°C/decade, respectively. Woodland areas do not show a significant warming trend (0.06°C/decade). The overall assessment indicates that the surface warming is larger for areas that are barren and anthropogenically developed. The better the vegetation cover, the smaller the OMR warming trend. Responses of surface air temperature to land use/cover types with similar physical and chemical properties and biological processes have no significant difference. The surface air temperature would not react significantly until the intensity of land cover changes reach a certain degree. Within the same land use/cover type, areas in eastern China with intensive human activities exhibit larger warming trend. The results provide observational evidence for modeling research on the impact of land use/cover change on regional climate. Thus, projecting further surface climate of China in regional scale should not only take greenhouse gas increase into account, but also consider the impact of land use/cover types and land cover change. Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2005CB422006), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 90202012, 40771206)     

Solar and geomagnetic activity effects on climate at regional and global scales: Case study—Romania

We analyze 100–150 years-long temperature and precipitation records from 14 meteorological stations in Romania, in connection with long-term trends in solar and geomagnetic activities. The comparison of solar (sunspot number) and geomagnetic (aa index) parameters with the mean air temperature over the Romanian territory, at interdecadal timescales, shows positive correlation coefficients, while the comparison with the mean precipitation shows negative correlation coefficients. The correlation of climatic parameters seems to be stronger for geomagnetic activity than for solar activity. The Romanian temperature series are examined in the context of other European stations and of averages on the European, northern hemisphere, and global scale, respectively. Long-term (interdecadal and centennial) trends and differences between local trends and average trends for larger areas are discussed. The study indicates that solar and geomagnetic activity effects are present on the 22-year Hale cycle timescale. The temperature variation on this timescale lags the solar/geomagnetic ones by 5–9 years.     

Recent Climate Warming: Surface Air Temperature Series and Geothermal Evidence

Long-term (1961 – 1996) meteorological air temperature series together with the reconstructed ground surface temperature histories, obtained by inverting borehole temperature-depth profiles, were used to project regional patterns of the recent (climate) warming rate on the territory of the Czech Republic. The characteristic magnitude of the warming rate of 0.02 –0.03 K/yr was confirmed by the results of several years of monitoring the temperature in two experimental boreholes. The monitoring of shallow temperatures at depths of about 30 –40 m, i.e. below the reach of the seasonal surface temperature variations, can serve as an alternative tool of direct quantitative assessment of the present warming rate. The data also seem to sustain a potential man-made component contributing to the more pronounced recent warming rate observed in the areas of large agglomeration.     

Climate change inferred from analysis of borehole temperatures: First results from Alberta Basin,Canada

High quality temperature measurements have been made to depths of 30 to 220 m at 42 sites in 62 observational hydrogeological wells in Alberta. The temperature profiles commonly show near-surface inversions with a minimum temperature at depths of 30 to 50 m. Thermal modelling suggests a surface temperature history with warming reaching 2°C over the past 30 to 60 years. Recent climate warming evident from the analysis of the air temperature data in the region seems to provide at least a partial explanation of the increased ground temperatures. A sudden increase of the surface ground temperature caused by land clearing may be the other explanation, although modelling of such a sudden increase can only explain the observed temperature-depth data if the onset of such warming is 20–30 years old, which is in disagreement with the history of land development in the studied area. The effect of near-surface inversions of the temperature profiles also has been observed in the forested areas. The above support the climate based effect. The superposition of the climatic effect and man-made activity effect upon the ground warming is a very complicated process calling for considerably more research.     

地震和潮汐对气候波动变化的影响

2004年12月26日印尼地震海啸后,全球低温冻害和暴雪灾害频繁发生."潮汐调温说"和"深海巨震降温说"是一种合理的解释.根据"潮汐调温说"和"深海巨震降温说"理论,2005年以后全球气温将因为地震海啸和强潮汐南北震荡而降低.2009年11月至2010年1月低温暴雪袭击北半球,西方科学家也承认2000～2010年气候的...     

植被覆盖状况影响中国地表气温变化的观测事实

利用NOAA/AVHRR归一化植被指数（NDVI）及观测气温与再分析地表气温的差值（Observation Minus Reanalysis, OMR）分析了植被覆盖状况对中国地表气温变化的影响.结果表明,地表气温OMR趋势值与NDVI在空间上呈现出显著的负相关关系,植被覆盖状况差（NDVI小于0.1）的区域地表升温较为显著,气温OMR趋势值超过0.2℃/10a,而植被覆盖度高（NDVI大于0.5）的区域气温OMR趋势值则变化不大,甚至出现降温.气温OMR趋势值对植被的季节变化还有着敏感的响应.不同区域植被覆盖状况的差异可能导致中国地表气温变化对全球变暖的响应不同,预测中国未来气候变化需要考虑植被覆盖状况及其动态变化的影响.     

Comments on “Evidence for global runoff increase related to climate warming” by Labat et al.

We have examined the evidence presented by Labat et al. and found that (1) their claims for a 4% increase in global runoff arising from a 1 °C increase in air temperature and (2) that their article provides the “first experimental data-based evidence demonstrating the link between the global warming and the intensification of the global hydrological cycle” are not supported by the data presented. Our conclusions are based on the facts that (1) their discharge records exhibit non-climatic influences and trends, (2) their work cannot refute previous studies finding no relation between air temperature and runoff, (3) their conclusions cannot explain relations before 1925, and (4) the statistical significance of their results hinges on a single data point that exerts undue influence on the slope of the regression line. We argue that Labat et al. have not provided sufficient evidence to support their claim for having detected increases in global runoff resulting from climate warming.     

环境恶化导致我国东部夏季频现北旱南涝

根据延伸的我国晴空总辐射量和夏季气候的关系,本文再次确认反映大气污染程度的晴空太阳辐射减少对我国近年来夏季频现的北旱南涝产生显著影响．同时。它还对随后2年以上的我国北方沙地面积的扩张起相当作用．较全面研究了近年来我国东部夏季北旱南涝加速发展的前期成因。认为这是包含空气质量,土地沙化在内的我国整个生态环境快速恶化并受到温室效应和“亚洲棕云”更大范围环境变化影响的综合结果．理应引起我们高度警惕．     

全球变暖背景下东亚气候变化的最新情景预测

在最新的SRES A2和B2温室气体排放情景下,利用国际上7个气候模式针对未来全球变暖的数值模拟结果,本文着重分析了东亚区域气候21世纪的变化趋势. 研究揭示：中国大陆年均表面气温升高过程与全球同步,但增幅在东北、西部和华中地区较大,且表现出明显的年际变化;全球年均表面气温增幅纬向上大体呈带状分布,两极地区最为明显,并在北极地区达到最大;此外,21世纪后半段北半球高纬度地区的年平均强升温幅度主要来自于冬季增温. 在21世纪前50年,温室气体含量的增加除在一定程度上会增加青藏高原大部分夏季降水量外,不会对中国大陆其余地区的年、季节平均降水量产生较大影响;但持续的温室气体含量增加将最终导致大陆降水量几乎是全域性的增加.     

Quantifying anthropogenic influence on recent near-surface temperature change

We assess the extent to which observed large-scale changes in near-surface temperatures over the latter half of the twentieth century can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change as simulated by a range of climate models. The hypothesis that observed changes are entirely due to internal climate variability is rejected at a high confidence level independent of the climate model used to simulate either the anthropogenic signal or the internal variability. Where the relevant simulations are available, we also consider the alternative hypothesis that observed changes are due entirely to natural external influences, including solar variability and explosive volcanic activity. We allow for the possibility that feedback processes, other than those simulated by the models considered, may be amplifying the observed response to these natural influences by an unknown amount. Even allowing for this possibility, the hypothesis of no anthropogenic influence can be rejected at the 5% level in almost all cases. The influence of anthropogenic greenhouse gases emerges as a substantial contributor to recent observed climate change, with the estimated trend attributable to greenhouse forcing similar in magnitude to the total observed warming over the 20th century. Much greater uncertainty remains in the response to other external influences on climate, particularly the response to anthropogenic sulphate aerosols and to solar and volcanic forcing. Our results remain dependent on model-simulated signal patterns and internal variability, and would benefit considerably from a wider range of simulations, particularly of the responses to natural external forcing.     

Shallow groundwater temperature response to climate change and urbanization

Groundwater temperatures, especially in shallow (quaternary) aquifers respond to ground surface temperatures which in turn depend on climate and land use. Groundwater temperatures, therefore, are modified by climate change and urban development. In northern temperate climate regions seasonal temperature cycles penetrate the ground to depths on the order of 10–15 m. In this paper, we develop and apply analytic heat transfer relationships for 1-D unsteady effective diffusion of heat through an unsaturated zone into a flowing aquifer a short distance below the ground surface. We estimate how changes in land use (urban development) and climate change may affect shallow groundwater temperatures. We consider both long-term trends and seasonal cycles in surface temperature changes. Our analysis indicates that a fully urbanized downtown area at the latitude of Minneapolis/St. Paul is likely to have a groundwater temperature that is nearly 3 °C warmer than an undeveloped agricultural area at the same geographic location. Pavements are the main cause of this change. Data collected by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in the St. Cloud, MN area confirm that land use influences groundwater temperatures. Ground surface temperatures are also projected to rise in response to global warming. In the extreme case of a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide (2 × CO₂ climate scenario), groundwater temperatures in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area could therefore rise by up to 4 °C. Compounding a land use change from “undeveloped” to “fully urbanized” and a 2 × CO₂ climate scenario, groundwater temperatures are projected to rise by about 5 °C at the latitude of Minneapolis/St. Paul.     

Simulated effect of sunshade solar geoengineering on the global carbon cycle

Solar geoengineering has been proposed as a potential mechanism to counteract global warming. Here we use the University of Victoria Earth System Model (UVic) to simulate the effect of idealized sunshade geoengineering on the global carbon cycle. We conduct two simulations. The first is the A2 simulation, where the model is driven by prescribed emission scenario based on the SRES A2 CO₂ emission pathway. The second is the solar geoengineering simulation in which the model is driven by the A2 CO₂ emission scenario combined with sunshade solar geoengineering. In the model, solar geoengineering is represented by a spatially uniform reduction in solar insolation that is implemented at year 2020 to offset CO₂-induced global mean surface temperature change. Our results show that solar geoengineering increases global carbon uptake relative to A2, in particular CO₂ uptake by the terrestrial biosphere. The increase in land carbon uptake is mainly associated with increased net primary production (NPP) in the tropics in the geoengineering simulation, which prevents excess warming in tropics. By year 2100, solar geoengineering decreases A2-simulated atmospheric CO₂ by 110 ppm (12%) and causes a 60% (251 Pg C) increase in land carbon accumulation compared to A2. Solar geoengineering also prevents the reduction in ocean oxygen concentration caused by increased ocean temperatures and decreased ocean ventilation, but reduces global ocean NPP. Our results suggest that to fully access the climate effect of solar geoengineering, the response of the global carbon cycle should be taken into account.     

On the effect of emissions from aircraft engines on the state of the atmosphere

Emissions from aircraft engines include carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrogen oxides, sulphur components and various other gases and particles. Such emissions from high-flying global civil subsonic air traffic may cause anthropogenic climate changes by an increase of ozone and cloudiness in the upper troposphere, and by an enhanced greenhouse effect. The absolute emissions by air traffic are small (a few percent of the total) compared to surface emissions. However, the greenhouse effect of emitted water and of nitrogen oxides at cruise altitude is potentially large compared to that of the same emissions near the earth’s surface because of relatively large residence times at flight altitudes, low background concentrations, low temperature, and large radiative efficiency. Model computations indicate that emission of nitrogen oxides has doubled the background concentration in the upper troposphere between 40○N and 60○N. Models also indicate that this causes an increase of ozone by about 5-20%. Regionally, the observed annual mean change in cloudiness is 0.4%. It is estimated that the resultant greenhouse effect of changes in ozone and thin cirrus cloud cover causes a climatic surface temperature change of 0.01-0.1 K. These temperature changes are small compared to the natural variability. Recent research indicates that the emissions at cruise altitude may increase the amount of stratospheric aerosols and polar stratospheric clouds and thereby have an impact on the atmospheric environment. Air traffic is increasing about 5-6% per year, fuel consumption by about 3%, hence the effects of the related emissions are expected to grow. This paper surveys the state of knowledge and describes several results from recent and ongoing research.