Articles | Volume 14, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-14-723-2007
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-14-723-2007
26 Nov 2007
26 Nov 2007

Anti-persistence in the global temperature anomaly field

L. M. V. Carvalho, A. A. Tsonis, C. Jones, H. R. Rocha, and P. S. Polito

Abstract. In this study, low-frequency variations in temperature anomaly are investigated by mapping temperature anomaly records onto random walks. We show evidence that global overturns in trends of temperature anomalies occur on decadal time-scales as part of the natural variability of the climate system. Paleoclimatic summer records in Europe and New-Zealand provide further support for these findings as they indicate that anti-persistence of temperature anomalies on decadal time-scale have occurred in the last 226 yrs. Atmospheric processes in the subtropics and mid-latitudes of the SH and interactions with the Southern Oceans seem to play an important role to moderate global variations of temperature on decadal time-scales.

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