Observed trends in the magnitude and persistence of monthly temperature variability.

ABSTRACT: Climate variability is critically important for nature and society, especially if it increases in amplitude and/or fluctuations become more persistent. However, the issues of whether climate variability is changing, and if so, whether this is due to anthropogenic forcing, are subjects of ongoing debate. Increases in the amplitude and persistence of temperature fluctuations have been detected in some regions, e.g. the North Pacific, but there is no agreed global signal. Here we systematically scan monthly surface temperature indices and spatial datasets to look for trends in variance and autocorrelation (persistence). We show that monthly temperature variability and autocorrelation increased over 1957-2002 across large parts of the North Pacific, North Atlantic, North America and the Medite

SUBMITTER: Lenton TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5517648 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature