COMPARISON OF CLIMATE CHANGES IN 1981—2000 WITH PALEOCLIMATE ANALOGUES OF GLOBAL WARMING

N. A. Efimova, E. L. Zhiltsova, N. A. Lemeshko, and L. A. Strokina

Characteristic features of regional climate changes in all seasons of the 1990s with a record high rise of annual mean global air temperature are considered. The results obtained are compared with estimates of the regional climate changes in the winter, spring, summer, and fall seasons of the 1980s. It is shown that the most substantial temperature changes over the 20-year period were observed in the same regions. Positive temperature anomalies and the area they cover increased in the 1990s in comparison to the 1980s. The estimates of climate changes for 1981—2000 are compared with paleoclimate analogues of global warming for the winter and summer seasons. It is concluded that, according to two independent empirical methods, quantitative estimates of the winter air temperature rise agree over large regions in Eurasia and North America.