Analysis of temperature series in Europe in relation to the detection of the enhanced greenhouse effect

Summary A method is developed for analysing climate series. It is based on the assumption that climate undergoes abrupt changes by natural means. It is a generalization of an existing method for dividing a series into two parts. It is assumed that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will lead to a gradual climate change (trend) and that this change will be superimposed upon the natural abrupt changes (jumps). On the basis of these facts, jumps in the direction of a climate change resulting from the increased concentrations of greenhouse gases are expected to be stronger than those in the opposite direction and previous jumps in the same direction. Different criteria are used to support this assumption. The method of analysis is applied to time series of summer and winter temperatures of 13 European stations.The largest increases in temperature do not occur in the recent past; they occur around 1910 in winter and about 1930 in summer. As the test for detection of the enhanced greenhouse effect is made stricter, the assumption put forward becomes weaker. Most time series do not have significant trends within various sub-periods. Differences in variability between successive sub-periods are generally not significant. There is agreement between the results reported here and others in the literature. So far, there is no definite evidence that the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases is affecting the climate of Europe.With 6 Figures