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Observed twentieth century land surface air temperature and precipitation covariability
Author(s) -
Déry Stephen J.,
Wood Eric F.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl024234
Subject(s) - precipitation , climatology , surface air temperature , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , air temperature , geography , meteorology , geology
Significant positive trends in surface air temperatures (SATs) and precipitation were observed over 71% and 27%, respectively, of the global land surface during the twentieth century. Although the terrestrial surface is becoming warmer and wetter, the covariability between annual SAT and precipitation is not well understood. Significant anticorrelations between annual values of SAT and precipitation exist over 24% of the global land surface. Regional‐scale interannual climate variability alternates between two dominant regimes, namely relatively warm and dry or cool and wet conditions. The out‐of‐phase positive trends in terrestrial SATs and precipitation observed during the twentieth century provide an important climate simulation benchmark.