Stronger Global Warming on Nonrainy Days in Observations From China. Issue 10 (14th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Du, Muye; Kleidon, Axel; Sun, Fubao; Renner, Maik; Liu, Wenbin
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 125:Issue 10(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-05-14
• Subjects: global warming -- rainy day -- temperature trend; Atmospheric physics -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 551.5
• DOI: 10.1029/2019JD031792
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-897X

Abstract

Abstract: Nonrainy days have rather different hydrologic and radiative conditions than rainy days, but few investigations considered how these different conditions contribute to the observed global warming. Here, we show that global warming is considerably stronger on nonrainy days using observations from China. We find that trends in mean temperature on nonrainy days are about 0.1 ° C/10 yr higher than on rainy days, and that about 80% of the total temperature increase is contributed by nonrainy days. The main reason is likely to be a stronger sensitivity of downwelling longwave radiation to greenhouse forcing on nonrainy days due to fewer clouds and water vapor compared with rainy days, which is not a hydrological effect but mainly a radiative effect. Our findings are consistent with the stronger mean temperature trends in drier regions and imply that the different temperature sensitivities on nonrainy and rainy days may have profound effects on natural and social systems. Key Points: We find stronger temperature trends on nonrainy days compared to rainy days in observations from China The reason is likely to be the different sensitivity of downwelling longwave radiation to greenhouse gases on nonrainy and rainy days Our findings are consistent with the stronger temperature trends in drier regions because of fewer rainy days