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Northern hemisphere temperature trends: A possible greenhouse gas effect?
Author(s) -
Karoly David J.
Publication year - 1989
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/gl016i005p00465
Subject(s) - stratosphere , troposphere , radiosonde , northern hemisphere , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , climatology , atmosphere (unit) , atmospheric temperature , greenhouse gas , forcing (mathematics) , southern hemisphere , meteorology , geology , geography , oceanography
Radiosonde temperature data from 147 stations in the Northern Hemisphere for the period 1964–85 have been used to investigate recent temperature trends in the troposphere and lower stratosphere. Experiments with atmospheric general circulation models indicate that increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will lead to reduced temperatures in the stratosphere as well as increased temperatures in the troposphere. An index designed to identify this signal has been computed from the station data. This index has positive trend at most of the stations, consistent with the greenhouse effect. Over the hemisphere, the signal is statistically significant. However, opposing temperature variations in the troposphere and stratosphere are associated with many other forcing mechanisms and the results cannot be used to identify a specific mechanism.