Do Projected Changes in Climate Vary from Region to Region?

Do Projected Changes in Climate Vary from Region to Region?

Climate varies from region to region. This variation is driven by the uneven distribution of solar heating, the individual responses of the atmosphere, oceans and land surface, the interactions between these, and the physical characteristics of the regions. The perturbations of the atmospheric constituents that lead to global changes affect certain aspects of these complex interactions. Some human-induced factors that affect climate ('forcings') are global in nature, while others differ from one region to another. For example, carbon dioxide, which causes warming, is distributed evenly around the globe, regardless of where the emissions originate, whereas sulphate aerosols (small particles) that offset some of the warming tend to be regional in their distribution. Furthermore, the response to forcings is partly governed by feedback processes that may operate in different regions from those in which the forcing is greatest. Thus, the projected changes in climate will also vary from region to region.

Latitude is a good starting point for considering how changes in climate will affect a region. For example, while warming is expected everywhere on Earth, the amount of projected warming generally increases from the tropics to the poles in the Northern Hemisphere. Precipitation is more complex, but also has some latitudedependent features. At latitudes adjacent to the polar regions, precipitation is projected to increase, while decreases are projected in many regions adjacent to the tropics (see Figure 1). Increases in tropical precipitation are projected during rainy seasons (e.g., monsoons), and over the tropical Pacific in particular.

Location with respect to oceans and mountain ranges is also an important factor. Generally, the interiors of continents are projected to warm more than the coastal areas. Precipitation responses are especially sensitive not only to the continental geometry, but to the shape of nearby mountain ranges and wind flow direction. Monsoons, extratropical cyclones and hurricanes/ typhoons are all influenced in different ways by these region-specific features.

Some of the most difficult aspects of understanding and projecting changes in regional climate relate to possible changes in the circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, and their patterns of variability. Although general statements covering a variety of regions with qualitatively similar climates can be made in some cases, nearly every region is idiosyncratic in some ways. This is true whether it is the coastal zones surrounding the subtropical Mediterranean Sea, the extreme weather in the North American interior that depends on moisture transport from the Gulf of Mexico, or the interactions between vegetation distribution, oceanic temperatures and atmospheric circulation that help control the southern limit of the Sahara Desert.

While developing an understanding of the correct balance of global and regional factors remains a challenge, the understanding of these factors is steadily growing, increasing our confidence in regional projections.