Abstract
The global-mean surface temperature has experienced a rapid warming from the 1980s to early-2000s but a muted warming since, referred to as the global warming hiatus in the literature. Decadal changes in deep ocean heat uptake are thought to primarily account for the rapid warming and subsequent slowdown. Here, we examine the role of ocean heat uptake in establishing the fast warming and warming hiatus periods in the ERA-Interim through a decomposition of the global-mean surface energy budget. We find the increase of carbon dioxide alone yields a nearly steady increase of the downward longwave radiation at the surface from the 1980s to the present, but neither accounts for the fast warming nor warming hiatus periods. During the global warming hiatus period, the transfer of latent heat energy from the ocean to atmosphere increases and the total downward radiative energy flux to the surface decreases due to a reduction of solar absorption caused primarily by an increase of clouds. The reduction of radiative energy into the ocean and the surface latent heat flux increase cause the ocean heat uptake to decrease and thus contribute to the slowdown of the global-mean surface warming. Our analysis also finds that in addition to a reduction of deep ocean heat uptake, the fast warming period is also driven by enhanced solar absorption due predominantly to a decrease of clouds and by enhanced longwave absorption mainly attributed to the air temperature feedback.
Highlights
Observational evidence indicates the global-mean surface temperature (GMST) has experienced a relatively rapid warming from the early-1980s to the early-2000s, but has nearly stalled since, producing what is known as the ‘global warming hiatus’ period (Easterling and Wehner 2009; Knight et al 2009; Liebmann et al 2010; Solomon et al 2010; Cowtan and Way 2014; Trenberth 2015)
We will compare the decadal changes in OHU and the oceanic heat content with the fast warming and global warming hiatus periods and quantify the processes that are responsible for the decadal changes in OHU
We examined the decadal evolution of the GMST since the 1980s in the ERA-Interim
Summary
Observational evidence indicates the global-mean surface temperature (GMST) has experienced a relatively rapid warming from the early-1980s to the early-2000s, but has nearly stalled since, producing what is known as the ‘global warming hiatus’ period (Easterling and Wehner 2009; Knight et al 2009; Liebmann et al 2010; Solomon et al 2010; Cowtan and Way 2014; Trenberth 2015). The increase of greenhouse gases drives the fast warming period by enhancing the downward longwave (LW) radiative flux received by the surface (Stephens and Greenwald 1991; Stephens et al 1994; Iacono et al 2008; Wang and Dickinson 2013). Another important contributor to the rapid warming is the increase of. The slowdown of the surface warming during the global warming hiatus period has been attributed to interdecadal climate variability through the modulation of the GMST by enhanced deep ocean heat uptake (Meehl et al 2011; Trenberth and Fasullo 2013; Chen and Tung 2014). Changes in aerosol can modify the surface energy budget via direct absorption or scattering of solar energy flux and indirect aerosol–cloud interaction (Ramanathan 2001; Trenberth et al 2015)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
