Climate Variability and Extremes during the Past 100 years

Large progress has been made in the past few years towards quantifying and understanding climate variability during past centuries. At the same time, present-day climate has been studied using state-of-the-art data sets and tools with respect to the physical and chemical mechanisms governing climate variability. Both the understanding of the past and the knowledge of the processes are important for assessing and attributing the anthropogenic effect on present and future climate. The most important time period in this context is the past approximately 100 years, which comprises large natural variations and extremes (such as long droughts) as well as anthropogenic influences, most pronounced in the past few decades. Recent and ongoing research efforts steadily improve the observational record of the 20th century, while atmospheric circulation models are used to underpin the mechanisms behind large climatic variations. Atmospheric chemistry and composition are important for understanding climate variability and change, and considerable progress has been made in the past few years in this field. The evolving integration of these research areas in a more comprehensive analysis of recent climate variability was reflected in the organisation of a workshop ¿Climate variability and extremes in the past 100 years¿ in Gwatt near Thun (Switzerland), 24¿26 July 2006. The aim of this workshop was to bring together scientists working on data issues together with statistical climatologists, modellers, and atmospheric chemists to discuss gaps in our understanding of climate variability during the past approximately 100 years.

The volume provides an up-to-date overview on 20th century climate variability and climate change

Preface Brönnimann, S., J. Luterbacher, H. Diaz, R. Stolarski, T. Ewen, U. Neu, Preface Introduction Brönnimann, S., T. Ewen, J. Luterbacher, H. Diaz, R. Stolarski, U. Neu A focus on climate during the past 100 years The observational climate record Lüdecke, C., From the bottom to the stratosphere - Arctic climate features as seen from the 1st International Polar Year (1882-1883) until the end of World War II Alekseev, G. V., S. I. Kuzmina, A. P. Nagurny, N. E. Ivanov, Arctic sea ice data sets in the context of climate change during the 20th century Woodruff, S. D., H. F. Diaz, E. C. Kent, R. W. Reynolds, S. J. Worley The Evolving SST Record from ICOADS Sterin, A. M., V. M. Khan, K. G. Rubinstein Upper-air temperature trends:Current problems and some recent results Uppala, S., A. Simmons, D. Dee, P. Kållberg, J.-N. Thépaut Atmospheric reanalyses and climate variations Mears, C. Constructing climate quality atmospheric temperatures from satellite microwave measurements Brönnimann, S., C. Vogler, J. Staehelin, R. Stolarski, G. Hansen Total ozone observations during the past 80 years Trends and Processes Stroeve J., W. Maslowski Arctic sea ice variability during the last half century Wild, M. Decadal changes in surface radiative fluxes and their role in global climate change Norris, J. R. Observed interdecadal changes in cloudiness: Real or spurious? Seneviratne, S. I., R. Stöckli The role of land-atmosphere interactions for climate variability in Europe. Lohmann, U. Aerosol effects on precipitation locally and globally Variability and extremes Paeth,H. Human activity and climate change in Africa Menzel, A., N. Estrella, C. Schleip Impacts of climate variability, trends and NAO on 20th century European plant phenology Della-Marta, P. M., M. Beniston Summer heat waves in western Europe, their past change and future projections. Scherrer, S. C., M. A. Liniger, C. Appenzeller, Distribution changes of seasonal mean temperature in observations and climate change scenarios Chemical climate variability and the stratosphere Staehelin, J. C. Schnadt Poberaj Long-term tropospheric ozone trends. A critical review Dameris, M., R. Deckert Simulation of long-term evolution of stratospheric dynamics and chemistry ¿ Role of natural and anthropogenic forcings Langematz U., M. Kunze Dynamical changes in the Arctic and Antarctic stratosphere during spring Brasseur, G. P. Creating Knowledge from the Confrontation of Observations and Models: The Case of Stratospheric Ozone Rozanov, E. Response of the Earth's atmosphere to the solar irradiance variability Jackman C., E. Fleming Stratospheric ozone variations caused by solar proton events between 1963 and 2005 Labitzke, K., M. Kunze, S. Brönnimann Sunspots, the QBO, and the Stratosphere in the North Polar Region: An update Index