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| Titel |
Why is the Northern Hemisphere warmer than the Southern Hemisphere? |
| VerfasserIn |
Georg Feulner, Stefan Rahmstorf, Anders Levermann, Silvia Volkwardt |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2013
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 15 (2013) |
| Datensatznummer |
250079319
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| Zusammenfassung |
| In Earth’s present-day climate, the annually-averaged surface air temperature in the Northern
Hemisphere (NH) is - 1.5°C higher than in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). This
interhemispheric temperature difference has been known for a long time, and scientists
have pondered over its origin for centuries. Frequently suggested causes include
differences in seasonal insolation, the larger area of tropical land in the NH, albedo
differences between the Earth’s polar regions, and northward heat transport by the ocean
circulation.
Here we systematically assess the origin of the interhemispheric temperature difference.
To this end we combine an analysis of climatological data as well as observations of the
Earth’s energy budget with simulations using a coupled climate model. We find that the
interhemispheric temperature difference is predominantly caused by meridional heat transport
in the oceans, with an additional contribution from the albedo difference between Antarctica
and the Arctic. |
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