Rates of global temperature change during the past millennium

Abstract

CR Climate Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials CR 57:11-18 (2013) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01159 Rates of global temperature change during the past millennium Caiming Shen1,2,*, Wei-Chyung Wang2, Gang Zeng3, Youbing Peng4, Ying Xu5 1Key Laboratory of Plateau Lake Ecology and Global Change, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650092, PR China 2Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12203, USA 3Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, PR China 4Department of Environmental Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, PR China 5Laboratory for Climate Studies, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, PR China *Email: cmshen@hotmail.com ABSTRACT: We examine the characteristics (amplitude and phase) of the temporal variation in the rates of global-mean surface temperature change during the past millennium. The study was conducted by applying 20, 30, and 50 yr sliding windows to the observations of the recent century and reconstructions of earlier times. The analysis focuses on the characteristics of the rate of warming during the 20th century within the context of the past millennium as well as its sensitivity to the low-frequency variability of sea surface temperature (SST) and the time scales. On the 20 yr time scale, rates comparable to that of the 20th century in both amplitude and phase occur in the preceding 9 centuries. The maximum in the amplitude of rates of temperature change in the 20th century on the 30 yr time scale, although not the largest during the past millennium, is the longest lasting. On the 50 yr time scale, the 20th century warming rates are the highest and the most persistent of the past millennium. The results also indicate that although the SST variability does not greatly affect the amplitude of the rates, the phases are quite different, highlighting the importance of the role of oceans in affecting the rates. We also analyze the characteristics of temperature change rates using global climate model (1000 to 1999 AD) simulations with different climate forcing (solar, volcanic, and greenhouse gases). Except for the case driven by solar forcing alone, all produce amplitudes similar to observed ones. However, only greenhouse gas forcing can reproduce the persistent high warming rates of the 20th century. KEY WORDS: Rates of temperature change · Observation · Reconstruction · Model simulation · 20th century warming · The past millennium Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Shen C, Wang WC, Zeng G, Peng Y, Xu Y (2013) Rates of global temperature change during the past millennium. Clim Res 57:11-18. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01159 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in CR Vol. 57, No. 1. Online publication date: June 13, 2013 Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572 Copyright © 2013 Inter-Research.