Effect of black carbon on mid-troposphere and surface temperature trends

Penner, Joyce E., Wang, Minghuai, Kumar, Akshay, Rotstayn, Leon and Santer, Ben (2007) Effect of black carbon on mid-troposphere and surface temperature trends. In: Human-Induced Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, pp. 18-33. ISBN 9780521866033

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Abstract

There is a continuing controversy over whether satellite-observed temperature trends in the mid and lower troposphere based on Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) satellite data since 1979 are consistent with surface-observed trends. The satellite trends are as much as 0.14 °C/decade smaller than the surface-observed trends. However, the satellite-inferred temperatures must be corrected for drifts and calibration differences between different satellites, and different procedures for doing so among different groups have led to different mid-tropospheric trend estimates. Here, we examine whether model-predicted trends are consistent with the satellite-based trends from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), and from the Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) group. It is important to re-examine model results in light of new evidence that indicates that the inclusion of black carbon aerosols tends to cool the surface and heat the troposphere, whereas the satellite data imply the opposite. Unlike previous model studies, we include an estimate of the effects of direct forcing by fossil fuel organic matter and black carbon aerosols, and by biomass aerosols, on trend estimates, as well as direct and indirect sulfate aerosol forcing, stratospheric ozone forcing and long-lived greenhouse gas forcing. We use the quasi-steady state results from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) global climate model with a q-flux ocean model to correct transient simulations from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) parallel climate model and from the CSIRO model that did not include the effects of fossil fuel carbon and biomass burning aerosols.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	Publisher Copyright: © Cambridge University Press 2007, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	earth and planetary sciences(all),sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	18 Mar 2026 16:31
Last Modified:	23 Mar 2026 01:25
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/102469
DOI:	10.1017/CBO9780511619472.004

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