Despite numerous studies in recent decades, our understanding of whether warming amplification is prevalent in high-elevation regions remains uncertain. In this work, on the basis of annual mean temperature series of 2,367 stations around the globe, we examine both altitudinal amplification and regional amplification in the high elevation regions across the globe using new methodology. We develop the function equations of warming components of altitude, latitude and longitude and station warming rates for individual stations within a high-elevation region based on basic mathematic and physical principles, and find a significant altitudinal amplification trend for the Tibetan Plateau, Loess Plateau, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Alps, United States Rockies, Appalachian Mountains, South American Andes and Mongolian Plateau. At the same time, we detect a greater warming for four high-elevation regions than their low elevation counterparts for the paired regions available. These suggest that warming amplification in high-elevation regions is an intrinsic feature of recent global warming.

No abstract

No abstract

Elevation-dependent warming in high-elevation regions and Arctic amplification are of tremendous interest to many scientists who are engaged in studies in climate change. Here, using annual mean temperatures from 2781 global stations for the 1961–2010 period, we find that the warming for the world’s high-elevation stations (>500 m above sea level) is clearly stronger than their low-elevation counterparts; and the high-elevation amplification consists of not only an altitudinal amplification but also a latitudinal amplification. The warming for the high-elevation stations is linearly proportional to the temperature lapse rates along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients, as a result of the functional shape of Stefan-Boltzmann law in both vertical and latitudinal directions. In contrast, neither altitudinal amplification nor latitudinal amplification is found within the Arctic region despite its greater warming than lower latitudes. Further analysis shows that the Arctic amplification is an integrated part of the latitudinal amplification trend for the low-elevation stations (≤500 m above sea level) across the entire low- to high-latitude Northern Hemisphere, also a result of the mathematical shape of Stefan-Boltzmann law but only in latitudinal direction.

No abstract