Climate Change 2001:
The Scientific Basis
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B.5 Observed Changes in Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation Patterns

The behaviour of ENSO (see Box 4 for a general description), has been unusual since the mid-1970s compared with the previous 100 years, with warm phase ENSO episodes being relatively more frequent, persistent, and intense than the opposite cool phase. This recent behaviour of ENSO is reflected in variations in precipitation and temperature over much of the global tropics and sub-tropics. The overall effect is likely to have been a small contribution to the increase in global temperatures during the last few decades. The Inter-decadal Pacific Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation are associated with decadal to multidecadal climate variability over the Pacific basin. It is likely that these oscillations modulate ENSO-related climate variability.

Other important circulation features that affect the climate in large regions of the globe are being characterised. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is linked to the strength of the westerlies over the Atlantic and extra-tropical Eurasia. During winter the NAO displays irregular oscillations on interannual to multi-decadal time-scales. Since the 1970s, the winter NAO has often been in a phase that contributes to stronger westerlies, which correlate with cold season warming over Eurasia. New evidence indicates that the NAO and changes in Arctic sea ice are likely to be closely coupled. The NAO is now believed to be part of a wider scale atmospheric Arctic Oscillation that affects much of the extratropical Northern Hemisphere. A similar Antarctic Oscillation has been in an enhanced positive phase during the last 15 years, with stronger westerlies over the Southern Oceans.

B.6 Observed Changes in Climate Variability and Extreme Weather and Climate Events

New analyses show that in regions where total precipitation has increased, it is very likely that there have been even more pronounced increases in heavy and extreme precipitation events. The converse is also true. In some regions, however, heavy and extreme events (i.e., defined to be within the upper or lower ten percentiles) have increased despite the fact that total precipitation has decreased or remained constant. This is attributed to a decrease in the frequency of precipitation events. Overall, it is likely that for many mid- and high latitude areas, primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, statistically significant increases have occurred in the proportion of total annual precipitation derived from heavy and extreme precipitation events; it is likely that there has been a 2 to 4% increase in the frequency of heavy precipitation events over the latter half of the 20th century. Over the 20th century (1900 to 1995), there were relatively small increases in global land areas experiencing severe drought or severe wetness. In some regions, such as parts of Asia and Africa, the frequency and intensity of drought have been observed to increase in recent decades. In many regions, these changes are dominated by inter-decadal and multi-decadal climate variability, such as the shift in ENSO towards more warm events. In many regions, inter-daily temperature variability has decreased, and increases in the daily minimum temperature are lengthening the freeze-free period in most mid- and high latitude regions. Since 1950 it is very likely that there has been a significant reduction in the frequency of much-below-normal seasonal mean temperatures across much of the globe, but there has been a smaller increase in the frequency of much-above-normal seasonal temperatures.

There is no compelling evidence to indicate that the characteristics of tropical and extratropical storms have changed. Changes in tropical storm intensity and frequency are dominated by interdecadal to multidecadal variations, which may be substantial, e.g., in the tropical North Atlantic. Owing to incomplete data and limited and conflicting analyses, it is uncertain as to whether there have been any long-term and large-scale increases in the intensity and frequency of extra-tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere. Regional increases have been identified in the North Pacific, parts of North America, and Europe over the past several decades. In the Southern Hemisphere, fewer analyses have been completed, but they suggest a decrease in extra-tropical cyclone activity since the 1970s. Recent analyses of changes in severe local weather (e.g., tornadoes, thunderstorm days, and hail) in a few selected regions do not provide compelling evidence to suggest long-term changes. In general, trends in severe weather events are notoriously difficult to detect because of their relatively rare occurrence and large spatial variability.

B.7 The Collective Picture: A Warming World and Other Changes in the Climate System

As summarised above, a suite of climate changes is now well-documented, particularly over the recent decades to century time period, with its growing set of direct measurements. Figure 7 illustrates these trends in temperature indicators (Figure 7a) and hydrological and storm-related indicators (Figure 7b), as well as also providing an indication of certainty about the changes.


Figure 7a: Schematic of observed variations of the temperature indicators. [Based on Figure 2.39a]

Figure 7b: Schematic of observed variations of the hydrological and storm-related indicators. [Based on Figure 2.39b]

Taken together, these trends illustrate a collective picture of a warming world:

Some important aspects of climate appear not to have changed.

The variations and trends in the examined indicators imply that it is virtually certain that there has been a generally increasing trend in global surface temperature over the 20th century, although short-term and regional deviations from this trend occur.



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