A COMPARISON BETWEEN PATTERNS OF TEMPERATURE TRENDS AND SULFATE AEROSOL POLLUTION

Global temperature records over the past century are compared to estimated atmospheric loading of anthropogenic aerosol sulfate, in order to investigate the possible cooling effect of such pollutants. Between the 1940s and the 1980s south-eastern Europe, China, and the northern Atlantic have experienced a summertime cooling. The first two of these regions agree well with those where anthropogenic sulfur emissions have increased during the same period. During winter, the two former regions experienced a substantial warming while the northern Atlantic and south-eastern US exhibited a cooling. The results are qualitatively consistent with theoretical calculations which indicate that anthropogenic sulfate aerosols cause a substantial cooling. However, because of large natural variations in the temperature records, the statistical significance of this conclusion is low.