A hiatus in the tropopause layer change

作者:Xian, Tao; Fu, Yunfei*
来源:International Journal of Climatology, 2017, 37(14): 4972-4980.
DOI:10.1002/joc.5130

摘要

Despite continually increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas, there has been a hiatus in rising global temperatures during the 21st century. In this study, changes in the tropopause layer (TL) thickness are studied during the pre-hiatus and the hiatus periods, based on radiosonde data from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive. Statistically significant thickening occurs in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere extratropics, at 35 +/- 15.6 (59.0 +/- 27.6) m decade(-1), and the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere high latitudes, at 104.8 +/- 21.7 (132.6 +/- 97.4) m decade(-1), but not in the tropics during the pre-hiatus period (1960-1997). For the hiatus period (2002-2013), significant thickening of the TL occurs only in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics (133 +/- 98 m decade(-1)). Moreover, this study captures distinct regional characteristics in the hiatus of the TL thickening, including thinning over Alaska, Hawaii, the Western Plateau of North America, and Northern Australia.