CLIMATE RESEARCH Published February 27 Vol. 9: 175-181,1998 Clim Res Analysis of winter and summer warming rates in gridded temperature time series Robert C. Balling Jrlr*,PatrickJ. Michaels2, Paul C. bappenberger2 'Office of Climatology, Arizona State University, Ternpe, Arizona 85287. USA 'Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903, USA ABSTRACT: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated in its 1995 report that 'the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global chate'. The observed near- surface warming which has occurred in the winter season over the mid-to-hlgh latitudes of the Northern Hemispheric continental areas is used as empirical support for numerical model sirnulations which suggest a similar pattern of temperature change to occur under conditions of increasing atmos- pheric carbon dioxide levels. In this work, we investigate, in detail, the seasonal pattern of temperature change as derived from the 2 gridded temperature departure datasets-the IPCC land-based data since 1946. and the MSU (microwave sounding units) satellite-based dataset since 1979. We find that the pattern of temperature trend differentials between winter and summer seasons has not remained constant over the last 50 yr, and over the last 2 decades is in less agreement with numerical model simulations. We find a negative correlation between relative winter warming and average winter temperature, which means that winter temperatures are warming the most in colder locations. KEY WORDS: Climate change . Seasonal temperature trends 1. INTRODUCTION masses, there is minimum social cost and even some benefits with regard to energy consumption. If it pri- While much has been made of the recent statement marily occurs in the warmest airmasses during the by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change summer over agricultural regions that are already (IPCC) that 'the balance of evidence suggests a dis- experiencing moisture stress, then the effects are cernible human influence on global climate' (Houghton clearly important and costly. et al. 1996). little public attention has been tendered In both major IPCC assessments of climate change towards the actual nature of that influence. In fact, (Houghton et al. 1990, 1996),the projected warming is the magnitude, spatial distribution and seasonality of greatest in the higher latitudes, particularly in the human-induced climate changes are clearly much Northern Hemisphere, and greater in the low-sun more important than the mere existence. Humans, for season than the high-sun season. These same IPCC example, have altered the climate of cities and sur- reports have noted that the maximum observed near- rounding regions for thousands of years, but no one surface warming has occurred in the winter season would argue that the large (1 to 2OC) changes that over the mid-to-high latitudes of the Northern Hemi- result from the most substantial urbanizations are of spheric continental areas. This match between tem- enough social significance to warrant remediation. perature patterns predicted by numerical models and Similarly, the seasonal distribution of climatic warm- temperature patterns observed in thermometer records ing can change the effects from benign and/or benefi- has been used by the IPCC as empirical support for the cial to highly deleterious. If warming were primarily a numerical model simulations. phenomenon during the winter in the coldest air- Recognizing the importance of identifying and ana- lyzing the winter versus summer warming signal, we (1) determine winter season and summer season 'E-mall: [email protected] warming rates for the globe using thermometer re- 0 Inter-Research 1998 176 Clim Res 9: 175-181, 1998 cords and satellite-based temperature measurements, earth surface properties, or cloud variations. The polar (2) examine spatial patterns in winter versus summer orbits of the satellites assure that virtually the entire temperature changes over various time periods, and earth is covered; remote and oceanic areas of the earth (3) compare similarities and differences between the are covered as easily as any other part of the planet. near-surface air temperature patterns and the lower- These monthly data are available on the internet from tropospheric temperature measurements from satel- 1979 to present for 2.5" latitude by 2.5" longitude grid lites. Our results allow us to assess winter versus sum- cells; the data are expressed as anomalies with respect mer warming rates, spatial and temporal patterns in to a 10 yr base period 1982-1991. The 2.5" cells were the seasonal warming rates, and consistency between combined by simple averaging into 5' cells to allow the near-surface air temperature patterns and the direct comparisons with the IPCC temperature data. satellite-based estimates. Three basic time periods were selected for the analy- ses presented in this investigation. The longest time period is 100 yr, and extends from 1896 to 1995. 2. DATA ASSEMBLAGE However, the spatial extent of complete temperature records is very limited over this period. Therefore, a Two basic datasets are used throughout this study: second period of 50 yr was established from 1946 to (1) IPCC Near-Surface Temperatures. The IPCC re- 1995. Using this time period, the spatial coverage of port (Houghton et al. 1996) describes a near-surface regions with usable data more than doubles, providing temperature dataset that is available on the internet a more complete pattern of temperature trends. It also and widely used in climate research. The data begin in represents the period of the most rapid anthropogenic 1.851 and run through 1995 (with constant updates). greenhouse enrichment of the atmosphere. Finally, the During the early part of the record, however, the third time period, defined as 1979 to 1995, allows the spatial coverage of the data is extremely limited. The satellite-based MSU and IPCC databases to be directly dataset includes both land-based observations as well compared. as sea-surface temperature data. For each calendar year and for each grid cell with The land surface air temperatures are taken from the 90% complete data over the selected time period, the 5" latitude by 5" longitude grid cell temperature data mean winter (October-March in the Northern Hemi- developed and described by Jones (1994). Jones care- sphere and April-September in the Southern Hemi- fully assessed the homogeneity and representativeness sphere) and mean summer (April-September in the of each time series from 2961 stations, and every effort Northern Hemisphere and October-March in the was made to identify and eliminate errant values. He Southern Hemisphere) temperatures were deter- converted the monthly station observations into the mined. The difference between the two (winter minus 5" latitude by 5" longitude grid-box data, and all values summer) was determined for each cell for each year. are expressed as deviations (anomalies) from a refer- For each time period selected, a final matrix was con- ence period defined as 1961 to 1990. structed with 2592 rows, one for each 5" latitude by 5" The IPCC temperature data for the oceanic areas longitude grid cell, and columns that included (1) lati- were extracted from the sea-surface temperature data tude of cell center, (2) longitude of cell center, (3) sum- generated and described by Folland & Parker (1995). mer temperature anomaly, (4) winter temperature ano- The original data come from millions of observations maly, (5) winter minus summer temperature anomaly, from ships, and a physical-empirical method is applied and (6) the lower-tropospheric temperature (K) for the to the raw data to eliminate inhomogeneities that winter season as determined from the MSU measure- impact the oceanic temperatures. ments over the period 1982-1991. (2) MSU Lower-Tropospheric Temperatures. Mea- surements of microwave emissions from molecular oxygen in the lower 8 km of the atmosphere are made 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION by microwave sounding units (MSU) onboard polar orbiting satellites, and the results provide an excellent Examples of summer versus winter warming are measure of lower-tropospheric temperatures (Spencer illustrated in the 1946 to 1995 IPCC data presented in & Christy 1990). Microwaves are able to penetrate the Figs. 1 & 2. Each figure shows the linear warming rate atmosphere with little attenuation, and the amount of in "C decade-' over the 50 yr period. The 1291 grid energy received by the satellites is directly propor- cells available for the summer months reveal a tional to the temperature in the lower atmosphere. The warming of O.OS°C decade-' (Fig. 1).The map reveals 53.74 GHz channel is highly sensitive to the thermal more warming in the Southern Hemisphere than the emission of molecular oxygen in the middle tropo- Northern Hemisphere, and the map also reveals some sphere, and has l~ttlesensitivity to water vapor, the cooling in the Northern Hemisphere in areas down- Balling et al.: Winter and summer warmlng rates 177 Fig. 1. Summer season temperature trends ("C decade-') for the IPCC near-surface data over the penod 1946-1995 I Fig 2 Winter season temperature trends ("C decade') tor the IPCC near-surface data over the perlod 1946-1995 178 Clim Res 9: 175-181, 1998 wind of the industrial complexes of North America, Hemisphere, winters are warming much more quickly Europe, and Asia. The spatial pattern found in the than summers over the continental surfaces according Northern Hemisphere