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| Titel |
Decline of fog and mist in Europe over the past 30 years due to the decrease in air pollution and changing weather patterns. |
| VerfasserIn |
G. J. van Oldenborgh, R. Vautard, P. Yiou |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2009
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 11 (2009) |
| Datensatznummer |
250022609
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Fog is a climate phenomenon that causes extensive damage, especially in road and air
transportation. We show evidence that the occurrence of fog and mist has declined
substantially throughout Europe over the last 30 years from an analysis of a multi-decade set
of quality-controlled surface horizontal visibility data, some series spanning more than 50
years. The reduction over 1978-2006 is found for all seasons and all visibility ranges between
0 and 8 km. The earlier period sees a mixed pattern, with increases in summer outside
industrial areas.
The reduction in fog over the last decades is spatially and temporally correlated with
aerosol emission trends, suggesting a significant contribution of air quality improvement. In
some areas, changes in weather patterns also contributed to the declining trend. These
changes show an overlap with the changes expected from anthropogenic climate
change.
It is expected that the occurrence of fog and mist will decrease further in the future. The
rate of change will likely be smaller due to the occurrence of smaller improvements in air
quality and less extreme shifts in circulation.
(For the radiation and temperature effects see Pascal Yiou’s talk in AS3.4) |
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