Human influence on climate detectable in the late 19th century.

ABSTRACT: The physics of the heat-trapping properties of CO[Formula: see text] were established in the mid-19th century, as fossil fuel burning rapidly increased atmospheric CO[Formula: see text] levels. To date, however, research has not probed when climate change could have been detected if scientists in the 19th century had the current models and observing network. We consider this question in a thought experiment with state-of-the-art climate models. We assume that the capability to make accurate measurements of atmospheric temperature changes existed in 1860, and then apply a standard "fingerprint" method to determine the time at which a human-caused climate change signal was first detectable. Pronounced cooling of the mid- to upper stratosphere, mainly driven by anthropogenic increases in carb

SUBMITTER: Santer BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12207479 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature