|
atmosphere
Continued global warming after CO2 emissions stoppage
The study uses Earth system model simulations of a stoppage in CO2 emissions to demonstrate that in some models, surface temperature may actually increase on multi-century timescales after an initial century-long decrease. The reason lies in decreasing ocean heat uptake together with feedback effects.
read the study
Newly detected ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere
Ozone-depleting substances emitted through human activities cause large-scale damage to the stratospheric ozone layer, and influence global climate. So far, seven types of CFC and six types of HCFC have been shown to contribute to stratospheric ozone destruction. Researchers at the University of East Anglia, UK, now report the detection and quantification of a further three CFCs and one HCFC.
read the study
Coverage bias in the HadCRUT4 temperature series and its impact on recent temperature trends
Incomplete global coverage is a potential source of bias in global temperature reconstructions if the unsampled regions are not uniformly distributed over the planet's surface. The widely used Hadley Centre–Climatic Reseach Unit Version 4 (HadCRUT4) dataset covers on average about 84% of the globe over recent decades, which suggests that HadCRUT4 is subject to bias, as this study finds.
read the study
arctic
High temporal resolution estimations of the Arctic sea ice albedo during the melting and refreezing periods of the years 2003-2011
Methods for estimating seasonal and long term trends of the Arctic sea ice albedo are of growing importance to cryosphere and climate studies. Remote sensing of the sea ice albedo using optical satellite instruments is often insufficient, so researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute show that a new microwave based sea ice albedo estimation method can alleviate some of the problems.
read the study
high impact events
Extreme summer weather in northern mid-latitudes linked to a vanishing cryosphere
The past decade has seen an exceptional number of unprecedented summer extreme weather events in northern mid-latitudes, along with record declines in both summer Arctic sea ice and snow cover on high-latitude land. This study demonstrates links between these developments.
read the study
sea level
Rapid changes in the seasonal sea level cycle along the US Gulf coast from the late 20th century
A study from the University of South Florida, USA, investigates temporal variations of the seasonal sea level harmonics throughout the 20th and early 21st century along the United States Gulf coast. It finds a significant amplification of the annual sea level cycle from the 1990s onward, most of which can be explained by changes in the air surface temperature toward warmer summers and colder winters and changes in mean sea level pressure.
read the study
hydrological cycles
Hydrological droughts in the 21st century, hotspots and uncertainties from a global multimodel ensemble experiment
Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are expected to modify the global water cycle with significant consequences for terrestrial hydrology. The study assesses the impact of climate change on hydrological droughts in a multimodel experiment and finds a likely increase in the global severity of drought by the end of 21st century.
read the study
El Niño–La Niña cycle and recent trends in continental evaporation
The hydrological cycle is expected to intensify in response to global warming. Yet, little unequivocal evidence of such an acceleration has been found on a global scale. The study uses satellite observations to reveal that continental evaporation has increased in northern latitudes, while at the global scale, the dynamics of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) have dominated the multi-decadal variability.
read the study
|
