Underestimated Change of Wet‐Bulb Temperatures Over East and South China
Abstract Wet‐bulb temperature (TW), which combines dry‐bulb temperature and relative humidity (RH), is a key variable for human health and heat stress because in hot environments evaporation is the main process by which bodies cool down. For this study, we use two independent RH data sets: a new hom...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2020-02-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086140 |
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| author | N. Freychet S.F.B. Tett Z. Yan Z. Li |
| author_facet | N. Freychet S.F.B. Tett Z. Yan Z. Li |
| author_sort | N. Freychet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Wet‐bulb temperature (TW), which combines dry‐bulb temperature and relative humidity (RH), is a key variable for human health and heat stress because in hot environments evaporation is the main process by which bodies cool down. For this study, we use two independent RH data sets: a new homogenized network of daily ground observations in China and the recent ERA5 reanalysis, for which we highlight the need to apply humidity correction. Based on these data sets, we show that Chinese wet‐bulb temperatures since 1980 have increased largely due to a rise in dry‐bulb temperatures while RH has remained approximately constant. We also find that TW change has been previously underestimated due to humidity bias in reanalysis and nonhomogenized observation where RH was decreasing sharply after 2000s, greatly limiting changes in TW. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6b135222f40e4b43932e4fbc082b3cb5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-6b135222f40e4b43932e4fbc082b3cb52025-08-20T03:49:32ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072020-02-01473n/an/a10.1029/2019GL086140Underestimated Change of Wet‐Bulb Temperatures Over East and South ChinaN. Freychet0S.F.B. Tett1Z. Yan2Z. Li3School of Geosciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UKSchool of Geosciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UKInstitute of Atmospheric Physics University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaInstitute of Atmospheric Physics University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaAbstract Wet‐bulb temperature (TW), which combines dry‐bulb temperature and relative humidity (RH), is a key variable for human health and heat stress because in hot environments evaporation is the main process by which bodies cool down. For this study, we use two independent RH data sets: a new homogenized network of daily ground observations in China and the recent ERA5 reanalysis, for which we highlight the need to apply humidity correction. Based on these data sets, we show that Chinese wet‐bulb temperatures since 1980 have increased largely due to a rise in dry‐bulb temperatures while RH has remained approximately constant. We also find that TW change has been previously underestimated due to humidity bias in reanalysis and nonhomogenized observation where RH was decreasing sharply after 2000s, greatly limiting changes in TW.https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086140 |
| spellingShingle | N. Freychet S.F.B. Tett Z. Yan Z. Li Underestimated Change of Wet‐Bulb Temperatures Over East and South China Geophysical Research Letters |
| title | Underestimated Change of Wet‐Bulb Temperatures Over East and South China |
| title_full | Underestimated Change of Wet‐Bulb Temperatures Over East and South China |
| title_fullStr | Underestimated Change of Wet‐Bulb Temperatures Over East and South China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Underestimated Change of Wet‐Bulb Temperatures Over East and South China |
| title_short | Underestimated Change of Wet‐Bulb Temperatures Over East and South China |
| title_sort | underestimated change of wet bulb temperatures over east and south china |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086140 |
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