Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Combining satellite data, atmospheric reanalyses, and climate model simulations, variability in the net downward radiative flux imbalance at the top of Earth's atmosphere ( N ) is reconstructed and linked to recent climate change. Over the 1985–1999 period mean N (0.34 ± 0.67 Wm −2 ) is lower than for the 2000–2012 period (0.62 ± 0.43 Wm −2 , uncertainties at 90% confidence level) despite the slower rate of surface temperature rise since 2000. While the precise magnitude of N remains uncertain, the reconstruction captures interannual variability which is dominated by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Monthly deseasonalized interannual variability in N generated by an ensemble of nine climate model simulations using prescribed sea surface temperature and radiative forcings and from the satellite‐based reconstruction is significantly correlated ( r ∼0.6) over the 1985–2012 period.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1002/2014gl060962
Institutions: University of Reading, Langley Research Center, Met Office
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $1,819
OpenAlex ID: W2144347609