GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 31, L22208, doi:10.1029/2004GL020937, 2004

Greenhouse forcing outweighs decreasing solar radiation driving rapid temperature rise over land
Rolf Philipona and Bruno Du¨rr
Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Received 6 July 2004; revised 1 September 2004; accepted 25 October 2004; published 25 November 2004.

Abstract
[1] Since 1988, surface temperature over land in Europe increased three times faster than the northern hemisphere average.    Here we contrast surface climatic and radiative parameters measured in central Europe over different time periods, including the extreme summer 2003, to pinpoint the role of individual radiative forcings in temperature increases.   Interestingly, surface solar radiation rather decreases since 1981.   Also, on an annual basis no net radiative cooling or warming is observed under changing cloud amounts.   However, high correlation (rT = 0.86) to increasing temperature is found with total heating radiation at the surface, and very high correlation (rT = 0.98) with cloud-free longwave downward radiation.   Preponderance of longwave downward radiative forcing suggests rapidly increasing greenhouse warming, which outweighs the decreasing solar radiation measured at the surface and drives rapid temperature increases over land.
INDEX
TERMS: 0325 Atmospheric Composition and Structure:
Evolution of the atmosphere; 1610 Global Change: Atmosphere
(0315, 0325); 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (3309);
1640 Global Change: Remote sensing. Citation: Philipona, R.,
and B. Du¨rr (2004), Greenhouse forcing outweighs decreasing
solar radiation driving rapid temperature rise over land, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 31, L22208, doi:10.1029/2004GL020937.

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