Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Evidence for Strengthening of the Tropical General Circulation in the 1990s
Junye Chen,12*Barbara E. Carlson,2Anthony D. Del Genio2
Satellite observations suggest that the thermal radiation emitted
by Earth to space increased by more than 5 watts per squaremeter,
while reflected sunlight decreased by less than 2 wattsper square
meter, in the tropics over the period 1985-2000, withmost of the
increase occurring after 1990. By analyzing temporalchanges in the
frequency of occurrence of emitted thermal andreflected solar fluxes,
the effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillationare
minimized, and an independent longer-time-scale variationof the
radiation budget is identified. Similar analyses of uppertropospheric
humidity, cloud amount, surface air temperature,and vertical velocity
confirm that these flux changes are associatedwith a
decadal-time-scale strengthening of the tropical Hadleyand Walker
circulations. Equatorial convective regions have intensifiedin upward
motion and moistened, while both the equatorial andsubtropical
subsidence regions have become drier and less cloudy.
1 Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA.
2 NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
jchen{at}giss.nasa.gov
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
TECHNICAL COMMENTS
Kevin E. Trenberth, Bruce A. Wielicki, Anthony D. Del Genio, Takmeng Wong, Junye Chen, Barbara E. Carlson, Richard P. Allan, Franklin Robertson, Herbert Jacobowitz, Anthony Slingo, David A. Randall, Jeffrey T. Kiehl, Brian J. Soden, C. T. Gordon, Alvin J. Miller, Shi-Keng Yang, and Joel Susskind (21 June 2002) Science296 (5576), 2095a.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.296.5576.2095a] |Full Text »|PDF »
PERSPECTIVES
Dennis L. Hartmann (1 February 2002) Science295 (5556), 811.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1068447] |Summary »|Full Text »|PDF »
REPORTS
Bruce A. Wielicki, Takmeng Wong, Richard P. Allan, Anthony Slingo, Jeffrey T. Kiehl, Brian J. Soden, C. T. Gordon, Alvin J. Miller, Shi-Keng Yang, David A. Randall, Franklin Robertson, Joel Susskind, and Herbert Jacobowitz (1 February 2002) Science295 (5556), 841.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1065837] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »|Supplemental Data »
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Dynamic Processes Governing Lower-Tropospheric HDO/H2O Ratios as Observed from Space and Ground.
C. Frankenberg, K. Yoshimura, T. Warneke, I. Aben, A. Butz, N. Deutscher, D. Griffith, F. Hase, J. Notholt, M. Schneider, et al. (2009)
Science
325, 1374-1377
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Estimating the potential for twenty-first century sudden climate change.
Changes in Earth's Reflectance over the Past Two Decades.
E. Palle, P. R. Goode, P. Montanes-Rodriguez, and S. E. Koonin (2004)
Science
304, 1299-1301
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Biodiversity Meets the Atmosphere: A Global View of Forest Canopies.
C. M. P. Ozanne, D. Anhuf, S. L. Boulter, M. Keller, R. L. Kitching, C. Korner, F. C. Meinzer, A. W. Mitchell, T. Nakashizuka, P. L. S. Dias, et al. (2003)
Science
301, 183-186
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Cloud cover limits net CO2 uptake and growth of a rainforest tree during tropical rainy seasons.
E. A. Graham, S. S. Mulkey, K. Kitajima, N. G. Phillips, and S. J. Wright (2003)
PNAS
100, 572-576
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
ENSO and cholera: A nonstationary link related to climate change?.
X. Rodo, M. Pascual, G. Fuchs, and A. S. G. Faruque (2002)
PNAS
99, 12901-12906
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Changes in Tropical Clouds and Radiation.
K. E. Trenberth, B. A. Wielicki, A. D. Del Genio, T. Wong, J. Chen, B. E. Carlson, R. P. Allan, F. Robertson, H. Jacobowitz, A. Slingo, et al. (2002)
Science
296, 2095a
|Full Text »|PDF »
Are observed changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere really dangerous?.
C. R. de Freitas (2002)
Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology
50, 297-327
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Global Cooling After the Eruption of Mount Pinatubo: A Test of Climate Feedback by Water Vapor.
B. J. Soden, R. T. Wetherald, G. L. Stenchikov, and A. Robock (2002)
Science
296, 727-730
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Evidence for Large Decadal Variability in the Tropical Mean Radiative Energy Budget.
B. A. Wielicki, T. Wong, R. P. Allan, A. Slingo, J. T. Kiehl, B. J. Soden, C. T. Gordon, A. J. Miller, S.-K. Yang, D. A. Randall, et al. (2002)
Science
295, 841-844
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
