Water Vapor Sounds Influential

Why the Earth's surface temperature hasn't warmed as expected over the past decade puzzles scientists. There are two theories -  the Earth's climate may be less sensitive to greenhouse gases than currently assumed or lessening of water vapor in the stratosphere influences the process conciderably, according to a new study out Thursday in the journal Science.

Photo: Water Vapor Sounds Influential

Water vapor, a potent, natural greenhouse gas that absorbs sunlight and re-emits heat, is "a wild card" of global warming, says the paper's lead author, senior scientist Susan Solomon of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colo.

In the Science paper, Solomon and her colleagues found that a drop in the concentration of water vapor in the stratosphere "very likely made substantial contributions to the flattening of the global warming trend since about 2000."

While climate warming is continuing — the decade of 2000 to 2009 was the hottest on record worldwide — the increase in temperatures was not as rapid as in the 1990s.

The stratosphere is the layer of the atmosphere just above the troposphere, which is the layer of air here at the planet's surface. (The troposphere goes from the surface up to about 8 miles, and the stratosphere is from about 8 to 30 miles above the surface.)

The decline in water vapor in the stratosphere slowed the rate of surface warming by about 25%, compared to that which would have occurred due to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, notes the study. Specifically, the planet should have warmed 0.25 degree F during the 2000s, but because of the influence of the water vapor, it rose just 0.18 degree F.

"We call this the 10/10/10 paper," says Solomon. "10 miles above your head, there is 10% less water vapor than there was 10 years ago."

Why did the water vapor decrease? "We really don't know," says Solomon, "We don't have enough information yet."

These fluctuations in water vapor could be part of a feedback loop. Although it's known that water vapor in the troposphere increases as the climate warms — and is a major climate feedback that is well simulated in global climate models — in sharp contrast, models do a poor job of simulating water vapor in the stratosphere, according to the paper.

But Solomon points out this isn't an indication that predictions on global warming are overstated: "This doesn't mean there isn't global warming," notes Solomon. "There's no significant debate that it is warmer now than it was 100 years ago, due to anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gases."

And how will this water vapor affect future global warming? "We really don't know the answer to this," says Solomon. "If the water changes are due to the specific way the sea-surface temperature pattern looks right now, then it may well not be linked to the overall warming. It could just be a source of variability from one decade to another as the ocean pattern slowly changes. Or it could be linked to the overall warming of the tropics, in which case it could continue to 'put the brakes on.' Only time will tell, and more data."

USA Today has contributed to the report.