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A hiatus in the tropopause layer change
Author(s) -
Xian Tao,
Fu Yunfei
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.5130
Subject(s) - hiatus , northern hemisphere , radiosonde , climatology , southern hemisphere , thickening , tropopause , extratropical cyclone , geology , latitude , tropics , atmospheric sciences , troposphere , paleontology , chemistry , geodesy , fishery , polymer science , biology
Despite continually increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas, there has been a hiatus in rising global temperatures during the 21st century. In this study, changes in the tropopause layer (TL) thickness are studied during the pre‐hiatus and the hiatus periods, based on radiosonde data from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive. Statistically significant thickening occurs in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere extratropics, at 35 ± 15.6 (59.0 ± 27.6) m decade −1 , and the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere high latitudes, at 104.8 ± 21.7 (132.6 ± 97.4) m decade −1 , but not in the tropics during the pre‐hiatus period (1960–1997). For the hiatus period (2002–2013), significant thickening of the TL occurs only in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics (133 ± 98 m decade −1 ). Moreover, this study captures distinct regional characteristics in the hiatus of the TL thickening, including thinning over Alaska, Hawaii, the Western Plateau of North America, and Northern Australia.