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In warming, Northern Hemisphere is out pacing the South
April 9, 2013
In warming, Northern Hemisphere is out pacing the South
If global warming were a race, the Northern Hemisphere would be winning. It is warming faster than the Southern Hemisphere, with some of the most rapid warming rates on Earth located in the Arctic, where the sea and land ice is shrinking and thinning. Not only is the North winning now, but projections show that, largely due to the influence of manmade greenhouse gas emissions, it is likely to widen its lead in the coming decades.
Two new studies shed light on this disparity and how it could have profound consequences for tropical rainfall. According to one of the studies by a group of researched based at U.C. Berkeley and the University of Washington, the Northern Hemisphere has led the Southern Hemisphere in its rate of warming since about 1980, largely because the Northern Hemisphere has more land and less ocean than the Southern Hemisphere, and oceans warm relatively slowly.
The second study by researchers at the Potsdam institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, implicates global ocean currents as another factor contributing to the Northern Hemisphere’s warming lead. These currents transports heat away from the southern waters and into the North Atlantic and North Pacific, helping to warm nearby land areas in the north even more.
In an “emerging indicator” of global warming, both studies found that the temperature difference between the two hemispheres has grown since 1980, and climate model projections show the Northern Hemisphere will continue to pull away from its hemispheric counterpart in the coming decades. The exact magnitude of the temperature difference will depend on the emissions of greenhouse gases, among other factors.
The Berkeley study projected that if emissions remain on their present upward trajectory, the average temperature difference between the two hemispheres could be about 1.6 degrees Celsius or about 3 degrees Fahrenheit. This would be sufficient to alter tropical rainfall patterns, which could affect everything from rice cultivation in India to the health of the Amazon Rainforest.
Read more at Climate Central.
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