Abstract
In recent decades, a more prominent warming trend in the upper troposphere above the tropical western Pacific has been proposed in the literature derived from model simulations, satellite-borne observations, or reanalysis datasets. Rather than applying these “indirect” approaches, this study obtains surface-based and radiosonde observations in Taiwan in order to investigate long-term changes in temperature at different altitudes within the troposphere under the conditions of ongoing global warming. These surface-based observations indicate more pronounced warming in areas of high terrain, and the radiosondes reveal faster warming trends in the upper troposphere, with the maximum temperature increase between 400 hPa and 250 hPa. The upper-tropospheric warming becomes even more pronounced during boreal winter and spring; however, the intense warming does not carry over near the tropopause. Notable warming is also observed near the surface in Taipei, which may be related to the urban heat island effect caused by the rapid development of anthropic activities. Since Taiwan is located right on the edge of the tropics in the western Pacific, the upper-tropospheric warming, particularly between December and March, above the island should be contributed by the radiative and non-radiative processes, which were previously proposed by other studies.
Highlights
Past literature that focused on long-term temperature variations raised great concern about global warming and sent warnings about increased risks of encountering climate extremes and compound hazards [1]
Since the 20th century, global warming has been a debatable topic across the scientific fields and wider society
Much of the previous literature discussed the general knowledge of global warming [37] and the behavior change of meteorological systems under such warming [38], while some studies described longterm changes at higher layers of the troposphere through model simulations or satellite observations
Summary
Past literature that focused on long-term temperature variations raised great concern about global warming and sent warnings about increased risks of encountering climate extremes and compound hazards [1]. The variations of atmospheric deep convection and the change in oceanic dynamical process and heat storage mainly contribute to the longterm changes of the annual mean upper-tropospheric warming over the tropical western. Pacific, with the latter playing a more important role. Even with substantial weather stations distributing over the plains and mountains and routine radiosonde observations occurring since 1985, discussions about long-term meteorological variations at different altitudes and pressure layers are still limited. Considering that previous studies usually adopted model simulations, satellite observations, or reanalysis datasets when discussing the mentioned upper-tropospheric warming, the existing rich observational resources in Taiwan, as alternatives, offer a robust base for scientists to conduct a long-term analysis.
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