The impact of enhanced greenhouse warming on temperature trends depends on factors like season, region, time of day and local climate. In addition, whether it’s rainy or dry on a given day could matter, though this sensitivity has not been closely examined.
To explore this, Muye Du and co-authors working in China and Germany analysed data from 455 meteorological stations across China during 1966–2017. They found non-rainy days were warmer, had a larger diurnal temperature range and exhibited greater warming compared to rainy days — accounting for 76–86% of increasing temperature trends. The researchers found that neither shortwave radiation (sunlight) nor evaporation (latent cooling) could explain the differences. Instead, the enhanced warming arose from a higher sensitivity of longwave radiation to greenhouse gases; with no clouds, downwelling longwave radiation increases disproportionately, warming the surface more efficiently on dry days. This mechanism is consistent with larger warming in arid regions globally, and it may help interpret regional warming patterns and the behaviour of future droughts and heatwaves.
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Langenbrunner, B. Dry heat. Nat. Clim. Chang. 10, 492 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0810-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0810-4
