Reversed asymmetric warming of sub-diurnal temperature over land during recent decades
Journal article, 2023

In the latter half of the twentieth century, a significant climate phenomenon “diurnal asymmetric warming” emerged, wherein global land surface temperatures increased more rapidly during the night than during the day. However, recent episodes of global brightening and regional droughts and heatwaves have brought notable alterations to this asymmetric warming trend. Here, we re-evaluate sub-diurnal temperature patterns, revealing a substantial increase in the warming rates of daily maximum temperatures (Tmax), while daily minimum temperatures have remained relatively stable. This shift has resulted in a reversal of the diurnal warming trend, expanding the diurnal temperature range over recent decades. The intensified Tmax warming is attributed to a widespread reduction in cloud cover, which has led to increased solar irradiance at the surface. Our findings underscore the urgent need for enhanced scrutiny of recent temperature trends and their implications for the wider earth system.

Author

Ziqian Zhong

Beijing Normal University

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Geoscience and Remote Sensing

Bin He

Beijing Normal University

Hans Chen

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Geoscience and Remote Sensing

Deliang Chen

University of Gothenburg

Tianjun Zhou

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Wenjie Dong

Sun Yat-Sen University

Cunde Xiao

Beijing Normal University

Shang ping Xie

University of California at San Diego (UCSD)

Xiangzhou Song

Hohai University

Lanlan Guo

Beijing Normal University

Ruiqiang Ding

Beijing Normal University

Lixia Zhang

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Ling Huang

Beijing University of Technology

Wenping Yuan

Sun Yat-Sen University

Xingming Hao

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Duoying Ji

Beijing Normal University

Xiang Zhao

Beijing Normal University

Nature Communications

2041-1723 (ISSN) 20411723 (eISSN)

Vol. 14 1 7189

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Roots

Basic sciences

Subject Categories

Climate Research

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-43007-6

PubMed

37938565

More information

Latest update

5/23/2024