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Spatiotemporal patterns of changes in maximum and minimum temperatures in multi‐model simulations
Author(s) -
Zhou Liming,
Dickinson Robert E.,
Dirmeyer Paul,
Dai Aiguo,
Min SeungKi
Publication year - 2009
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 - 10.1029/2008gl036141
Subject(s) - environmental science , longwave , cloud cover , climatology , atmospheric sciences , shortwave radiation , latitude , shortwave , atmosphere (unit) , diurnal cycle , outgoing longwave radiation , climate model , water vapor , radiative transfer , climate change , radiation , meteorology , geography , convection , geology , cloud computing , oceanography , physics , geodesy , quantum mechanics , computer science , operating system
This paper analyzes and attributes spatial and temporal patterns of changes in the diurnal cycle of land surface air temperature in 20 simulations from 11 global coupled atmosphere‐ocean general circulation models during the 20th century and the 21st century under the SRES A1B scenario. Most of the warming in the maximum (T max ) and minimum (T min ) temperatures from 1900 to 2099 is attributed to enhanced surface downward longwave radiation (DLW), while changes in surface downward shortwave radiation (DSW) and cloud cover mainly contribute to the simulated decrease in the diurnal temperature range (DTR). Although the simulated DTR decreases are much smaller than the observed during the 20th century, the models unanimously predict substantial warming in both T max and T min and decreases in DTR, especially in high latitudes during the 21st century, in response to enhanced global‐scale anthropogenic forcings (particularly greenhouse effects of atmospheric water vapor and in part aerosol radiative cooling in the tropics) and increased cloudiness in high latitudes.