Significant Anthropogenic-Induced Changes of Climate Classes Since 1950

Abstract:

The global warming trend in the last few decades is attributed mainly to anthropogenic causes. Determination of major Köppen climate classes from gridded data shows that 5.7% of the global land area has shifted toward warmer and drier climate types since the 1950s, which cannot be explained by natural climate variations alone. Significant changes include expansion of arid and high-latitude continental climate zones, shrinkage in polar and mid-latitude continental climates, poleward shifts in temperate, continental and polar climates, and elevation rises in tropical and polar climates. An attribution study shows that the ecosystem changes cannot be explained as natural variations but are driven by anthropogenic factors.