LONDON — Chinese scientists have just confirmed that greenhouse gas emissions have sent the thermometer soaring in one country — China.
This is, they say, the first study to directly link warmer daily minimum and maximum temperatures with climate change in one single nation, rather than on a global or hemispheric scale.
They had the maximum, minimum and mean daily temperatures from 2,416 weather stations in China between 1961 and 2007, and they decided to look for four revealing statistics: the minimum and maximum daily temperatures, and the minimum and maximum annual temperatures. They then analyzed this set of extremes and compared it with climate models.
They calculated that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions had probably increased the warmest annual extreme temperatures — the daily maximum and daily minimum for the hottest day and night of the year — by 0.92°C (1.66°F) and 1.7°C (3.06°F) respectively.
They found that human activity had increased the coolest annual extreme temperatures — the maximum and minimum for the coldest day and night of the year — by 2.83°C (5.09°F) and 4.44°C (7.99°F) respectively.
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