Trends In Temperature Extremes Research Articles

Temperature and precipitation extremes in century‐long gridded observations, reanalyses, and atmospheric model simulations

AbstractKnowledge about long‐term changes in climate extremes is vital to better understand multidecadal climate variability and long‐term changes and to place today's extreme events in a historical context. While global changes in temperature and precipitation extremes since the midtwentieth century are well studied, knowledge about century‐scale changes is limited. This paper analyses a range of largely independent observations‐based data sets covering 1901–2010 for long‐term changes and interannual variability in daily scale temperature and precipitation extremes. We compare across data sets for consistency to ascertain our confidence in century‐scale changes in extremes. We find consistent warming trends in temperature extremes globally and in most land areas over the past century. For precipitation extremes we find global tendencies toward more intense rainfall throughout much of the twentieth century; however, local changes are spatially more variable. While global time series of the different data sets agree well after about 1950, they often show different changes during the first half of the twentieth century. In regions with good observational coverage, gridded observations and reanalyses agree well throughout the entire past century. Simulations with an atmospheric model suggest that ocean temperatures and sea ice may explain up to about 50% of interannual variability in the global average of temperature extremes, and about 15% in the global average of moderate precipitation extremes, but local correlations are mostly significant only in low latitudes.

English

Understanding household perceptions of climate change and determinants of such perceptions are important for planning community/household based climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. In this study, herding/farming households’ perceptions were  studied and compared with recorded trends of extreme rainfall and temperature indicators from nearby weather stations across three eco-environments (pastoral, agro-pastoral and mixed crop-livestock highland system) in Ethiopia. Factors influencing household perceptions were assessed using a multinomial logit model. Results indicated that the majority of households (52.5-98.8%) across the three eco-environments perceived increasing numbers of extreme warm days and warm nights and decreasing numbers of extreme cool days and cool nights. In most cases, the household perceptions agreed with the recorded extreme temperature trends. Household perceptions of the studied extreme events were significantly affected by literacy, eco-environment, contact with the agricultural extension service, and presence of relief aid. We conclude that policy programs that enhance the literacy level of household and strengthen eco-environment-based extension services may increase the level of awareness and understanding of climate change by households which could help them to better adapt to climate change. Key words: Determinant, Ethiopia, household, perception, rainfall, season, temperature.

Trends in temperature extremes over nine integrated agricultural regions in China, 1961–2011

By characterizing the patterns of temperature extremes over nine integrated agricultural regions (IARs) in China from 1961 to 2011, this study performed trend analyses on 16 extreme temperature indices using a high-resolution (0.5° × 0.5°) daily gridded dataset and the Mann-Kendall method. The results show that annually, at both daytime and nighttime, cold extremes significantly decreased but warm extremes significantly increased across all IARs. Overall, nighttimes tended to warm faster than daytimes. Diurnal temperature ranges (DTR) diminished, apart from the mid-northern Southwest China Region and the mid-Loess Plateau Region. Seasonally, DTR widely diminished across all IARs during the four seasons except for spring. Higher minimum daily minimum temperature (TNn) and maximum daily maximum temperature (TXx), in both summer and winter, were recorded for most IARs except for the Huang-Huai-Hai Region; in autumn, all IARs generally encountered higher TNn and TXx. In all seasons, warming was observed at daytime and nighttime but, again, nighttimes warmed faster than daytimes. The results also indicate a more rapid warming trend in Northern and Western China than in Southern and Eastern China, with accelerated warming at high elevations. The increases in TNn and TXx might cause a reduction in agriculture yield in spring over Northern China, while such negative impact might occur in Southern China during summer. In autumn and winter, however, the negative impact possibly occurred in most of the IARs. Moreover, increased TXx in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta is possibly related to rapid local urbanization. Climatically, the general increase in temperature extremes across Chinese IARs may be induced by strengthened Northern Hemisphere Subtropical High or weakened Northern Hemisphere Polar Vortex.

Trends of Extreme Temperature and Rainfall Indices for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of South Eastern Kenya

Extreme climate events have profound impacts on economies and livelihoods of many regions of the world. In Kenya, the extreme climate events often have strong impacts on agriculture production systems in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). A small change in the mean climate condition can cause large changes in these production systems. There is a paucity of information on trends in climate and climate extremes in the country. However, a joint World Meteorological Commission for Climatology/World Climate Research Programme (WCPRP) project on climate Variability and Predictability (WMO CCl/CLIVAR) Expert Team (ET) on Climate Change Detection, Monitoring and Indices has defined 27 core climate indices mainly focusing on extreme events which can be derived through the use of RClimDex Software. In this study, therefore, the RClimDex software has been used to derive climate extreme indices for five stations in the ASALs of South-Eastern Kenya based on climate data for the period 1961 to 2009. The objective was to examine trends in these extremes to aid agricultural planning and practice. These indices have shown decreasing trends in annual rainfall, rainfall intensity and consecutive wet days but increasing trends in consecutive dry days. Steady warming patterns were evident in both the maximum and minimum temperature indices. This paper concludes that indeed significant changes in climate extremes are apparent in the ASALs of the country and recommends a re-thinking of planning and practice of rain-fed agriculture in the ASALs of South-Eastern Kenya.

Trends in extreme temperature over Nigeria from percentile‐based threshold indices

ABSTRACTThis study analyses spatial and temporal trends in extreme temperature indices over Nigeria. The percentile indices were calculated from newly homogenized daily minimum and maximum temperature data for the period 1971–2012 for 21 stations in Nigeria. Indices describing the characteristics of hot extremes and cold extremes are calculated with the RClimDex software. The annual and seasonal trends in these indices are obtained using the ordinary least square fit and the statistical significance tested using the R‐based modified Mann–Kendall test. We examine characteristics of these indices for the entire country and separately for the three geographical zones in Nigeria: Guinea, Savanna, and Sahel. The spatial and temporal patterns of trends in the indices indicate that Nigeria has experienced statistically significant increase in the frequency of hot extreme and decrease in cold extreme events. Although majority of the stations have significant trends in warm days and warm nights, the annual trend is greatest in warm nights. In addition, the rate of warming in minimum temperature (‘warm nights’) is stronger in June, July, August (JJA) and September, October, November (SON) compare with December, January, February (DJF) and March, April, May (MAM). As for the trends in cold days and cold nights, the trends in cold nights are larger than for cold days at both the annual and seasonal scales. The regional analysis indicates that trends in warm nights and cold nights are most pronounced in Guinea and Sahel regions.

Changes in extreme temperature and precipitation events in the Loess Plateau (China) during 1960–2013 under global warming

In recent decades, extreme climatic events have been a major issue worldwide. Regional assessments on various climates and geographic regions are needed for understanding uncertainties in extreme events' responses to global warming. The objective of this study was to assess the annual and decadal trends in 12 extreme temperature and 10 extreme precipitation indices in terms of intensity, frequency, and duration over the Loess Plateau during 1960–2013. The results indicated that the regionally averaged trends in temperature extremes were consistent with global warming. The occurrence of warm extremes, including summer days (SU), tropical nights (TR), warm days (TX90), and nights (TN90) and a warm spell duration indicator (WSDI), increased by 2.76 (P<0.01), 1.24 (P<0.01), 2.60 (P=0.0003), 3.41 (P<0.01), and 0.68 (P=0.0041) days/decade during the period of 1960–2013, particularly, sharp increases in these indices occurred in 1985–2000. Over the same period, the occurrence of cold extremes, including frost days (FD), ice days (ID), cold days (TX10) and nights (TN10), and a cold spell duration indicator (CSDI) exhibited decreases of −3.22 (P<0.01), −2.21 (P=0.0028), −2.71 (P=0.0028), −4.31 (P<0.01), and −0.69 (P=0.0951) days/decade, respectively. Moreover, extreme warm events in most regions tended to increase while cold indices tended to decrease in the Loess Plateau, but the trend magnitudes of cold extremes were greater than those of warm extremes. The growing season (GSL) in the Loess Plateau was lengthened at a rate of 3.16days/decade (P<0.01). Diurnal temperature range (DTR) declined at a rate of −0.06°C /decade (P=0.0931). Regarding the precipitation indices, the annual total precipitation (PRCPTOT) showed no obvious trends (P=0.7828). The regionally averaged daily rainfall intensity (SDII) exhibited significant decreases (−0.14mm/day/decade, P=0.0158), whereas consecutive dry days (CDD) significantly increased (1.96days/decade, P=0.0001) during 1960–2013. Most of stations with significant changes in SDII and CDD occurred in central and southeastern Loess Plateau. However, the changes in days of erosive rainfall, heavy rain, rainstorm, maximum 5-day precipitation, and very-wet-day and extremely wet-day precipitation were not significant. Large-scale atmospheric circulation indices, such as the Western Pacific Subtropical High Intensity Index (WPSHII) and Arctic Oscillation (AO), strongly influences warm/cold extremes and contributes significantly to climate changes in the Loess Plateau. The enhanced geopotential height over the Eurasian continent and increase in water vapor divergence in the rainy season have contributed to the changes of the rapid warming and consecutive drying in the Loess Plateau.

Changes in Indices of Daily Temperature and Precipitation Extremes in Northwest Nigeria

It’s a known fact that climate change will bring about increases in the occurrence of weather extreme events such as elevated temperature, drought, and floods; most especially in areas classified as hotspots to climate change – such as northwest Nigeria. This study investigates trends in extreme temperature and precipitation indices between 1971 and 2010 for six synoptic weather stations in northwest Nigeria. Results indicate that there have been statistically significant, spatially coherent trends in temperature indices that are related to temperature increases in the region. Significant, increasing trends have been found in the annual minimum of daily maximum and minimum temperature, the annual maximum of daily maximum and minimum temperature, the number of summer nights, and the number of days where daily temperature has exceeded its 90th percentile. Significant negative trends have been found in the number of days when daily temperature is below its 10th percentile and daily temperature range. Trends in precipitation indices, including the number of days with precipitation, the average precipitation intensity, and maximum daily precipitation events, are weak in general and do not show spatial coherence, with Kaduna showing decreasing trend. Keywords: Climate, Extremes, Trends, Temperature, Precipitation

Contribution of changes in atmospheric circulation patterns to extreme temperature trends.

Surface weather conditions are closely governed by the large-scale circulation of the Earth's atmosphere. Recent increases in the occurrence of some extreme weather phenomena have led to multiple mechanistic hypotheses linking changes in atmospheric circulation to increasing probability of extreme events. However, observed evidence of long-term change in atmospheric circulation remains inconclusive. Here we identify statistically significant trends in the occurrence of atmospheric circulation patterns, which partially explain observed trends in surface temperature extremes over seven mid-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Using self-organizing map cluster analysis, we detect robust circulation pattern trends in a subset of these regions during both the satellite observation era (1979-2013) and the recent period of rapid Arctic sea-ice decline (1990-2013). Particularly substantial influences include the contribution of increasing trends in anticyclonic circulations to summer and autumn hot extremes over portions of Eurasia and North America, and the contribution of increasing trends in northerly flow to winter cold extremes over central Asia. Our results indicate that although a substantial portion of the observed change in extreme temperature occurrence has resulted from regional- and global-scale thermodynamic changes, the risk of extreme temperatures over some regions has also been altered by recent changes in the frequency, persistence and maximum duration of regional circulation patterns.

Recent changes in Georgia׳s temperature means and extremes: Annual and seasonal trends between 1961 and 2010

Sixteen temperature minimum and maximum series are used to quantify annual and seasonal changes in temperature means and extremes over Georgia (Southern Caucasus) during the period 1961 and 2010. Along with trends in mean minimum and maximum temperature, eight indices are selected from the list of climate extreme indices as defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) of the Commission for Climatology of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), for studying trends in temperature extremes. Between the analysis periods 1961–2010, 1971–2010 and 1981–2010 pronounced warming trends are determined for all Georgia-averaged trends in temperature means and extremes, while all magnitudes of trends increase towards the most recent period. During 1981 and 2010, significant warming trends for annual minimum and maximum temperature at a rate of 0.39°C (0.47°C) days/decade and particularly for the warm temperature extremes, summer days, warm days and nights and the warm spell duration index are evident, whereas warm extremes show larger trends than cold extremes. The most pronounced trends are determined for summer days 6.2 days/decade, while the warm spell duration index indicates an increase in the occurrence of warm spells by 5.4 days/decade during 1981 and 2010. In the comparison of seasonal changes in temperature means and extremes, the largest magnitudes of warming trends can be observed for temperature maximum in summer and temperature minimum in fall. Between 1981 and 2010, summer maximum temperature shows a significant warming at a rate of 0.84°C/decade, increasing almost twice as fast as its annual trend (0.47°C/decade). The Georgia-averaged trends for temperature minimum in fall increase by 0.59°C/decade. Strongest significant trends in temperature extremes are identified during 1981 and 2010 for warm nights (4.6 days/decade) in summer and fall as well as for warm days (5.6 days/decade) in summer. Analyses demonstrate that there have been increasing warming trends since the 1960s, particularly for warm extremes during summer and fall season, accompanied by a constant warming of temperature means in Georgia.

Trends of Temperature Extremes in Summer and Winter during 1971–2013 in China

Trends of Temperature Extremes in Summer and Winter during 1971–2013 in China

The Variability of Seasonal and Annual Extreme Temperature Trends of the Latest Three Decades in Romania

Abstract In the latest IPCC report (2014) it was estimated that since the mid-20th century, the number of cold days and nights has decreased and the number of warm days and nights has increased in large parts of Europe. Some recent analyses have found that mean summer maximum temperature change over Europe was +1.6 ± 0.4 °C during 1880 to 2005. It seems that human influence has contributed to the observed global scale changes in the frequency and intensity of daily temperature extreme. The objective of this work was to identify spatial variations of the seasonal and annual extreme temperature variability and trends over Romania in the period 1985-2014. Starting with a large climatological database (30 years of daily data for 29 locations from Romania), daily minimum, maximum and amplitude temperature data were condensed into normal probability functions for which the assumption of normal distribution was accepted by the Shapiro-Wilk statistical test. These functions were then used to calculate the appearance probability of annual and monthly temperatures values. Temperatures which appear with different probabilities all year long were computed with “NORMDIST” function from Microsoft Office Excel. Based on these values data thematic maps were generated with isolines drawn by geo-statistical interpolation (kriging method of Surfer®, Golden Software, 2012). Comparing the increasing trend per decade expressed by probabilities, we found that the minimum temperature had almost the same rate (21.6% in a decade) as the maximum ones (21.0% in a decade) and mean daily temperature amplitude remained unchanged from 1985 to 2014. We identified the presence of an increased variability of annual mean temperature trends between the different climatological stations. It was noted that the level of statistical significance of maximum and minimum temperature linear trends per decade was low during winter, spring and autumn. But this level of significance was very high for June, July and August months.

Climate change in Argentina: trends, projections, impacts and adaptation

In most of Argentina, the warming since 1901 was a little lower than the global average, although with strong trends in temperature extremes and in heat waves during the most recent decades. There was a remarkable increase in precipitation over most of subtropical Argentina, especially since 1960. This has favored agriculture yields and the extension of crop lands into semiarid regions, but this increase also came with more frequent heavy rainfalls and consequent flooding of rural and urban areas. Since the early 1970s, the main rivers of the Plata Basin have increased their mean flows, but this was attributable not only to increased precipitation, but also to land use changes. In contrast, over the Andes Mountains, reduced rainfall and increased temperature has led to glaciers receding and reduced river flows. Climate projections for the first half of this century maintain observed trends and raise additional concerns that in most cases can be dealt with timely adaptation policies. However, by the end of this century, under an extreme emissions scenario, the projected warming reaches 3.5°C in the north of the country with respect to present‐day conditions. There is insufficient knowledge to assume that this warming would not create severe damages to the people and the economy of Argentina. Because of the damages and casualties that heat waves and extreme precipitation events are already producing, the first and most urgent adaptation required is to reinforce early warning systems and contingency planning to cope with climatic extremes and their consequences on health. WIREs Clim Change 2015, 6:151–169. doi: 10.1002/wcc.316This article is categorized under: Trans‐Disciplinary Perspectives &gt; National Reviews

Multi‐dataset comparison of gridded observed temperature and precipitation extremes over China

ABSTRACTFive gridded datasets containing measures of temperature and precipitation extremes over the past five decades over China are compared. Time series, spatial averages and trends in China's coldest and warmest days and nights and wettest days are estimated from these datasets that vary in their station network density, interpolation procedures and the order in which extremes are calculated. We find that country‐wide trends in temperature extremes are coherent irrespective of dataset choice although actual values are generally smaller in the dataset in which indices are calculated from daily interpolated grids rather than from station points. There are also some regional differences in trends especially over regions with sparse data networks, e.g. the Tibetan Plateau. Averaged across China, trends calculated over the period 1961–2009 vary from a minimum of 0.13 °C decade−1(hottest day) to 0.65 °C decade−1(coldest night). The coldest day and night have tended to warm faster than the warmest day and night. Trends in precipitation extremes are much less coherent spatially and can be positive or negative depending on the choice of dataset. The length of station record chosen is also vital to eliminate spurious trends. The results have important implications for detection and attribution and model evaluation studies.

Trends in extreme temperature and precipitation in Muscat, Oman

Abstract. Changes in frequency and intensity of weather events often result in more frequent and intensive disasters such as flash floods and persistent droughts. In Oman, changes in precipitation and temperature have already been detected, although a comprehensive analysis to determine long-term trends is yet to be conducted. We analysed daily precipitation and temperature records in Muscat, the capital city of Oman, mainly focusing on extremes. A set of climate indices, defined in the RClimDex software package, were derived from the longest available daily series (precipitation over the period 1977–2011 and temperature over the period 1986–2011). Results showed significant changes in temperature extremes associated with cooling. Annual maximum value of daily maximum temperature (TX), on average, decreased by 1°C (0.42°C/10 year). Similarly, the annual minimum value of daily minimum temperature (TN) decreased by 1.5°C (0.61°C/10 year), which, on average, cooled at a faster rate than the maximum temperature. Consequently, the annual count of days when TX &gt; 45°C (98th percentile) decreased from 8 to 3, by 5 days. Similarly, the annual count of days when TN &lt; 15°C (2nd percentile) increased from 5 to 15, by 10 days. Annual total precipitation averaged over the period 1977–2011 is 81 mm, which shows a tendency toward wetter conditions with a 6 mm/10 year rate. There is also a significant tendency for stronger precipitation extremes according to many indices. The contribution from very wet days to the annual precipitation totals steadily increases with significance at 75% level. When The General Extreme Value (GEV) probability distribution is fitted to annual maximum 1-day precipitation, the return level of a 10-year return period in 1995–2011 was estimated to be 95 mm. This return level in the recent decade is about 70% higher than the return level for the period of 1977–1994. These results indicate that the long-term wetting signal apparent in total precipitation can be attributed largely to the increases in extreme precipitation in recent decades.

Crop–climate relationships of cereals in Greece and the impacts of recent climate trends

Notwithstanding technological developments, agricultural production is still affected by uncontrollable factors, such weather and climate. Within this context, the present study aims at exploring the relative influence of growing season climate on the yields of major cereals (hard and soft wheat, maize, and barley) on a regional scale in Greece. To this end, crop–climate relationships and the impacts of climate trends over the period 1978–2005 were explored using linear regression and change point analysis (CPA). Climate data used include maximum (Tx) and minimum temperature (Tn), diurnal temperature range (Tr), precipitation (Prec), and solar radiation (Rad). Temperature effects were the most substantial. Yields reduced by 1.8–7.1 %/°C with increasing Tx and by 1.4–6.1 %/°C with decreasing Tr. The warming trends of Tn caused bilateral yield effects (from −3.7 to 8.4 %/°C). The fewer significantly increasing Rad and decreasing Prec anomalies were associated with larger yield decreases (within the range of 2.2 % MJ/m2/day (for maize) to 4.9 % MJ/m2/day (for hard wheat)) and smaller yield increases (from 0.04 to 1.4 %/mm per decade), respectively. Wheat and barley—the most vulnerable cereals—were most affected by the trends of extreme temperatures and least by Tr. On the contrary, solar radiation has proven to be the least affecting climate variable on all cereals. Despite the similarity in the direction of crop responses with both analyses, yield changes were much more substantial in the case of CPA analysis. In conclusion, regional climate change has affected Greek cereal productivity, in a few, but important for cereal production, regions. The results of this study are expected to be valuable in anticipating the effects of weather/climate on other warm regions worldwide, where the upper temperature limit for some cereals and further changes in climate may push them past suitability for their cultivation.

Quantile Trends in Temperature Extremes in China

Quantile Trends in Temperature Extremes in China

Trends of temperature extremes in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACTIn characterizing the patterns of climate change across Saudi Arabia, several extreme indices are calculated from station values daily maximum and minimum temperature data. The trend analyses are performed on 13 annual extreme indices for Saudi Arabia, using observations from 27 surface stations with high‐quality data for the period 1981–2010. RClimDex is used to calculate the indices, and simple regression methods are employed for the trend analysis. The analyses of extreme temperature indices detected a significant increase in the majority of the stations, which further indicates that the country has experienced a warming trend. The findings show that 92/89% of the stations displayed a significant increase in the annual occurrence of warm days/nights and 96/93% revealed a significant decrease for the occurrence of cool days/nights. Time‐series analysis has also shown an important feature of the climate change signal. When the dataset is divided into two sub‐periods, the analysis reveals a distinctive long‐term trend that clearly distinguishes the two periods. It was found that the temperature extremes (hot and cold) in Saudi Arabia have increased significantly with greater magnitude in the recent‐past (1996–2010) compared to the previous period (1981–1995). The most telling evidence for this is the heat‐ and cold‐waves, where indices of both have occurred more frequently in the second part of the two sub‐periods.

Warmer daily temperatures since 1951

Days and nights have indeed become warmer over the past 60 years, a new study finds. Although several observation‐based studies have shown that daily average temperatures as well as daily maximum and minimum temperatures have increased over the past few decades, controversy has remained as to how the observed trends in extreme and average temperatures are related to each other: Are the warming trends in extreme temperatures a result of a shifting mean climate, or have temperatures become more variable? Using a global observational data set of daily temperatures, Donat and Alexander compared the probability distributions of daily maximum and minimum temperatures over two 30‐year periods, 1951–1980 and 1981–2010. The authors show that the maximum and minimum daily temperatures all over the globe have significantly shifted toward higher values during the latter period. They further show that the distributions have become skewed toward the hotter part of the distribution; changes are greater for daily minimum (nighttime) temperatures than for the daily maximum (daytime) temperatures. The authors conclude that the distribution of global daily temperatures has indeed become “more extreme” compared to the middle of the twentieth century. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2012GL052459, 2012)

Changes in daily extreme temperatures in the extra‐Carpathians regions of Romania

AbstractChanges in daily extreme temperatures have been identified in many studies conducted at local, regional or global scales. For Romanian territory, only little research on this issue was done. In this article, the extra‐Carpathians regions of Romania located southward and eastward from the Carpathians Chain were considered. This study is focused on analyzing daily extreme temperature trends at a regional scale (eastern, southern and southeastern regions of Romania) across 50 years (1961–2010). Data sets of daily minimum and maximum temperature recorded in 14 weather stations were analyzed. The main goal was to find changes in extreme daily temperatures using a set of 20 indices adopted from the core indices developed by ETCCDMI with appropriate modifications to suit to the analyzed territory. The main results suggest that regional temperature trends at the scale of extra‐Carpathians areas of Romania are similar to those calculated for global and European continental scales; the climate has become warmer during the last decades. It has been identified that both extreme daily maximum and minimum temperatures have increased in the analyzed areas. For all the indices related to hot temperature most trends are significantly positive. The strongest increase was detected for hot related extremes such as summer days and tropical nights as well as for maximum values of maximum and minimum daily temperatures. For indices related to cold there are different sign slopes, but negative slopes prevail, especially for number of days under a defined threshold. This is also an evidence of the important warming in the area. Generally, it was found that the daily maximum temperature is getting more extreme, whereas the minimum is getting less extreme. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society

Changes in the Observed Trends in Extreme Temperatures over China around 1990

Abstract Based on the daily temperature data from weather stations in China, linear trends of the seasonal mean and extreme temperatures in summer and winter are analyzed and compared for the periods of 1960–89 and 1990–2009. The results show prominent changes in those trends since the early 1990s, in particular in winter—a signal of climate shift as previously identified. The changes, however, are found to be strongly region dependent. In summer, both seasonal mean and extreme temperatures show a considerable cooling trend in central China and a warming trend in north and south China before 1990. After 1990 all temperature indices show significant warming trends throughout China with the largest trend up to 4.47°C (10 yr)−1 in north China. In winter in north China, with the most prominent warming trend during 1960–89, there is a significant cooling trend in both the seasonal mean temperature and the cold temperature indices after 1990. The warming trends over the Tibetan Plateau are substantially enhanced since 1990. All indices for the diurnal temperature range (DTR) show consistent decreasing trends in both summer and winter throughout China before 1990 while they turn to increasing trends in northeast China in summer and over the Tibetan Plateau in winter after 1990. The annual temperature range displays a decreasing trend throughout China before 1990 while it is dominated by an increasing trend after 1990 except over the Tibetan Plateau and in a narrow band along the Yangtze River. Possible mechanisms for the observed trend changes are discussed.