From Dimming to Brightening: Decadal Changes in Solar Radiation at Earth's Surface
Abstract
Variations in solar radiation incident at Earth's surface profoundly affect the human and terrestrial environment. A decline in solar radiation at land surfaces has become apparent in many observational records up to 1990, a phenomenon known as global dimming. Newly available surface observations from 1990 to the present, primarily from the Northern Hemisphere, show that the dimming did not persist into the 1990s. Instead, a widespread brightening has been observed since the late 1980s. This reversal is reconcilable with changes in cloudiness and atmospheric transmission and may substantially affect surface climate, the hydrological cycle, glaciers, and ecosystems.
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This study is supported by the National Centre of Competence in Climate Research (NCCR Climate), sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The buildup of the BSRN and GEBA data archives has become possible through several Swiss National Science Foundation and ETH Zurich grants. The support by the Division of Radiation Observation, Japan Meteorological Agency, is greatly acknowledged. C.N.L. acknowledges the support of the Climate Change Research Division of the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program. We would like to acknowledge all BSRN site scientists for their efforts to ensure continuous high-quality radiation measurements.
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Science
Volume 308 | Issue 5723
6 May 2005
6 May 2005
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American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 26 July 2004
Accepted: 16 March 2005
Published in print: 6 May 2005
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