Global and Hemispheric Temperature Anomalies

These global and hemispheric temperature anomaly time series, which incorporate land and marine data, are continually updated and expanded by P. Jones of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) with help from colleagues at the CRU and other institutions. Some of the earliest work in producing these temperature series dates back to Jones et al. (1986a,b,c). Other related work includes Jones (1988, 1994) and Jones and Briffa (1992). The land portion of the database from which the time series are computed consists of surface air temperature (SAT) data (land-surface meteorological data and fixed-position weather ship data) that have been corrected for nonclimatic errors, such as station shifts and/or instrument changes (Jones 1994). The reanalysis of land surface data by the CRU (Jones 1994) resulted in (1) the inclusion of over 1000 additional stations, (2) a new reference period common to all stations (1961-1990; previously 1950-1979), and (3) increased grid-box resolution of the temperature anomalies (5° X 5°). The marine data used in the present analysis are compiled at the Hadley Centre of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office (Parker et al. 1995) and consist of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) that incorporate in situ measurements from ships and buoys. The SST data have been corrected for different types of buckets used before 1942 (Folland and Parker 1995; Parker et al. 1994, 1995). These SSTs also were converted to anomalies with respect to the 1961-1990 mean. The two constituent data sets (SAT and SST) were combined using the algorithm developed by Parker et al. (1994). The resulting data set has been used extensively in various Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports (e.g., Nicholls et al. 1996) and the global-mean temperature changes evident in the record have been interpreted in terms of anthropogenic forcing influences and natural variability (e.g., Wigley et al. 1997).

For additional methods and references associated with this data set as well as an interpretation of global and hemispheric trends shown by the time series, visit the data set description in TRENDS Online at [http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/temp/jonescru/jones.html].

References:

Folland, C.K., and D.E. Parker. 1995. Correction of instrumental biases in historical sea surface temperature data. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 121:319-367.

Jones, P.D. 1988. Hemispheric surface air temperature variations: Recent trends and an update to 1987. Journal of Climate 1:654-60.

Jones, P. D. 1994. Hemispheric surface air temperature variations: A reanalysis and an update to 1993. Journal of Climate 7(11):1794-1802.

Jones, P.D., and K.R. Briffa. 1992. Global surface air temperature variations during the twentieth century: Part 1, spatial, temporal and seasonal details. The Holocene 2:165-79.

Jones, P.D., S.C.B. Raper, R.S. Bradley, H.F. Diaz, P.M. Kelly, and T.M.L. Wigley. 1986a. Northern Hemisphere surface air temperature variations: 1851-1984. Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology 25(2):161-179.

Jones, P.D., S.C.B. Raper, and T.M.L. Wigley. 1986b. Southern Hemisphere surface air temperature variations: 1851-1984. Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology 25(9):1213-1230.

Jones, P.D., T.M.L. Wigley, and P.B. Wright. 1986c. Global temperature variations between 1861 and 1984. Nature 322:430-434.

Nicholls, N., G. V. Gruza, J. Jouzel, T. R. Karl, L. A. Ogallo, and D. E. Parker. 1996. Observed climate variability and change. In Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change. J. T. Houghton, L. G. Meira Filho, B. A. Calander, N. Harris, A. Kattenberg, and K. Maskell (Eds.). Cambridge University Press, pp. 133-192.

Parker, D. E., P. D. Jones, A. Bevan, and C. K. Folland. 1994. Interdecadal changes of surface temperature since the 19th century. Journal of Geophysical Research 99:14373-14399.

Parker, D. E., C. K. Folland, and M. Jackson. 1995. Marine surface temperature: observed variations and data requirements. Climatic Change 31:559-600.

Wigley, T.M.L., P.D. Jones, and S.C.B. Raper. 1997. The observed global warming record: What does it tell us? Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 94:8314-8320.