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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 1, NUMBER 3, SEPTEMBER 1988

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
TREND ANALYSIS

Item #d88sep53

"Global Trends in Total Ozone," K.P. Bowman (Dept. Atmos. Sci., Univ. Illinois, Urbana IL 61801), Science, 239, 48-50, Jan. 1, 1988.

Satellite ozone data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer from 1979 through 1986 show that recent decreases of total ozone are global in extent and have not been confined to the Antarctic spring ozone hole. The decreases are largest in middle and high latitudes and occur in all seasons.

Item #d88sep54

"An Update through 1985 of the Variations in Global Total Ozone and North Temperate Layer-Mean Ozone," J.K. Angell (Air Resour. Lab., NOAA, Silver Spring, Md.), J. Clim. Appl. Meteor., 27(1), 91-97, Jan. 1988.

Total-ozone variations in five climatic zones and the world as a whole, as well as ozone variations in tropospheric and stratospheric layers of the north temperate zone, have been updated through 1985 by means of Dobson, ozonesonde and Umkehr observations. Based on linear regression, between 1980 and 1985 the year-average total ozone decreased by 2-3% in the north polar, north and south temperate, and tropical zones, but by almost 6% in the south polar zone. Observations for 16-24 and 24-32 km layers of the north temperate zone show record low ozone values in 1983 and 1985. There is little evidence of appreciable changes in tropospheric ozone during 1980-85.

Item #d88sep55

"Detecting Changes in Global Climate Induced by Greenhouse Gases," T.M. Barnett (Climate Res., Scripps Inst. Oceanogr., San Diego CA 92093), M.E. Schlesinger, J. Geophys. Res., 92(D12), 14,722-14,780, Dec. 20, 1987.

A statistical search for a theoretically predicted CO₂ signal in surface air temperature data extended back to 1899 was influenced by artifacts of decadal-scale variations at the ends of the record. Application of the "fingerprint" strategy to three different global fields of climate variables over the last 23-35 years showed no significant CO₂ signal, but demonstrated the need to use model signal-to-noise ratios in selecting fields for subsequent analysis and multiple fields in the detection process. The primary pattern of natural air temperature variability was very similar to the expected CO₂ signal; ocean surface temperatures may be better.

Item #d88sep56

"An Approach to Adjusting Climatological Time Series for Discontinuous Inhomogeneities," T.R. Karl (Nat. Clim. Data Ctr., Asheville NC 28801), C.N. Williams Jr., ibid., 26(9), 1744-1763, Sep. 1987.

A method is described whereby climatological time series of temperature and precipitation can be adjusted for station inhomogeneities using station history information. It has been applied to over 1200 stations in the U.S. In many instances the adjustments in temperature time series are substantial (as large as actual climate fluctuations during the twentieth century), often leading to a more consistent pattern of regional climate change than would otherwise be surmised from inspection of the unadjusted data.

Item #d88sep57

"Mean Air Temperature Variations of the Northern Hemisphere for 1841-1985," K.Ya. Vinnikov, P.Ya. Groisman et al., Sov. Meteor. Hydrol. (Meteor. Gidrol.), No. 1, 45-55, 1987.

Statistically optimal averaging is applied to data from around 300 meteorological stations to estimate the variation of the mean annual surface air temperature and the mean monthly surface air temperature for the entire Northern Hemisphere. Results support the development of global warming.