Stratospheric cooling and the troposphere

Arising from: Q. Fu et al. 429, 55-58 (2004); see also communication from Tett et al.; Fu et al. replySatellite observations of tropospheric temperatures seem to show less warming than surface temperatures, contrary to physical predictions. Fu et al. show that statistical correction for the effect of stratospheric cooling brings the satellite-based estimates of tropospheric warming into closer agreement with observations of surface warming. Here we apply the method of Fu et al. to output from a state-of-the-art coupled climate model and show that simulated tropospheric temperature trends are consistent with those observed and that their method is robust. © 2004 Nature Publishing Group.