DOI: 10.1126/science.1103215. From Dimming to Brightening: Decadal Changes in Solar Radiation at Earth's Surface

From Dimming to Brightening: Decadal Changes in Solar Radiation at Earth's Surface

10.1126/science.1103215

Crossref journal-article

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science (221)

Abstract

Variations in solar radiation incident at Earth's surface profoundly affect the human and terrestrial environment. A decline in solar radiation at land surfaces has become apparent in many observational records up to 1990, a phenomenon known as global dimming. Newly available surface observations from 1990 to the present, primarily from the Northern Hemisphere, show that the dimming did not persist into the 1990s. Instead, a widespread brightening has been observed since the late 1980s. This reversal is reconcilable with changes in cloudiness and atmospheric transmission and may substantially affect surface climate, the hydrological cycle, glaciers, and ecosystems.

Bibliography

Wild, M., Gilgen, H., Roesch, A., Ohmura, A., Long, C. N., Dutton, E. G., Forgan, B., Kallis, A., Russak, V., & Tsvetkov, A. (2005). From Dimming to Brightening: Decadal Changes in Solar Radiation at Earthâs Surface. Science, 308(5723), 847â850.

Authors 10

Martin Wild (first)
Hans Gilgen (additional)
Andreas Roesch (additional)
Atsumu Ohmura (additional)
Charles N. Long (additional)
Ellsworth G. Dutton (additional)
Bruce Forgan (additional)
Ain Kallis (additional)
Viivi Russak (additional)
Anatoly Tsvetkov (additional)

References 26 Referenced 1,086

A. Ohmura, H. Lang, in Current Problems in Atmospheric Radiation, J. Lenoble, J. F. Geleyn, Eds. (Deepak, Hampton, VA, 1989), pp. 298-301. / Current Problems in Atmospheric Radiation (1989)
10.1175/1520-0442(1998)011<2042:MATOSI>2.0.CO;2
10.1016/S0168-1923(00)00241-0
B. Liepert, Geophys. Res. Lett.29, 2002GL014910 (2002). / Geophys. Res. Lett. (2002)
10.1175/1520-0442(1991)004<0848:RIVISR>2.0.CO;2
10.1126/science.1064034
10.1126/science.1075390-a
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B. G. Liepert, J. Feichter, U. Lohmann, E. Roeckner, Geophys. Res. Lett.31, 2003GL019060 (2004). (10.1029/2003GL019060) / Geophys. Res. Lett. (2004)
M. Wild, A. Ohmura, H. Gilgen, D. Rosenfeld, Geophys. Res. Lett.31, 2003GL091188 (2004). / Geophys. Res. Lett. (2004)
10.1175/1520-0477(1999)080<0831:TGEBA>2.0.CO;2
10.1175/1520-0477(1998)079<2115:BSRNBW>2.0.CO;2
The reversal of the downward tendencies adds credibility to the measured variations because most radiometers typically lose sensitivity with time and unless properly postcalibrated can indicate false downward but not upward trends.
O. Kruger, H. Grassl, Geophys. Res. Lett.29, 1925 (2002). / Geophys. Res. Lett. (2002)
V. Russak A. Kallis Handbook of Estonian Solar Radiation Climate (Estonian Meteorological and Hydrological Institute 2003).
E. G. Dutton, A. Farhadi, R. S. Stone, C. Long, D. W. Nelson, J. Geophys. Res.109, 2003JD003568 (2004). (10.1029/2003JD003568) / J. Geophys. Res. (2004)
G. M. Abakumova, Meteorol. Hydrol.9, 51 (2000). / Meteorol. Hydrol. (2000)
B. Liu, M. Xu, M. Henderson, W. Gong, J. Geophys. Res.109, 2004JD004511 (2004). (10.1029/2004JD004511) / J. Geophys. Res. (2004)
10.1029/2001JD900133
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W. B. Rossow, E. N. Duenas, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc.85, 167172 (2004). / Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. (2004)
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S. Sharma et al., J. Geophys. Res.109, 2003JD004331 (2004). (10.1029/2003JD004331) / J. Geophys. Res. (2004)
This study is supported by the National Centre of Competence in Climate Research (NCCR Climate) sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The buildup of the BSRN and GEBA data archives has become possible through several Swiss National Science Foundation and ETH Zurich grants. The support by the Division of Radiation Observation Japan Meteorological Agency is greatly acknowledged. C.N.L. acknowledges the support of the Climate Change Research Division of the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program. We would like to acknowledge all BSRN site scientists for their efforts to ensure continuous high-quality radiation measurements.

Dates

Type	When
Created	20 years, 3 months ago (May 5, 2005, 4:33 p.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 9, 2024, 11:09 p.m.)
Indexed	5 days, 7 hours ago (Aug. 26, 2025, 2:32 a.m.)
Issued	20 years, 3 months ago (May 6, 2005)
Published	20 years, 3 months ago (May 6, 2005)
Published Print	20 years, 3 months ago (May 6, 2005)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Wild_2005, title={From Dimming to Brightening: Decadal Changes in Solar Radiation at Earth’s Surface}, volume={308}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1103215}, DOI={10.1126/science.1103215}, number={5723}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Wild, Martin and Gilgen, Hans and Roesch, Andreas and Ohmura, Atsumu and Long, Charles N. and Dutton, Ellsworth G. and Forgan, Bruce and Kallis, Ain and Russak, Viivi and Tsvetkov, Anatoly}, year={2005}, month=may, pages={847–850} }

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