B. D. Santer, K. E. Taylor, T. M. L. Wigley, T. C. Johns, P. D. Jones, D. J. Karoly, J. F. B. Mitchell, A. H. Oort, J. E. Penner, V. Ramaswamy, M. D. Schwarzkopf, R. J. Stouffer, S. Tett

Nature

Published date July 4, 1996

A search for human influences on the thermal structure of the atmosphere

  • States that the observed spatial patterns of temperature change in the free atmosphere from 1963 to 1987 are similar to those predicted by state-of-the-art climate models incorporating various combinations of changes in carbon dioxide, anthropogenic sulphate aerosol and stratospheric ozone concentrations
  • Finds that the degree of pattern similarity between models and observations increases through this period
  • Concludes that is likely that this trend is partially due to human activities, although many uncertainties remain, particularly relating to estimates of natural variability