Measurement Methods Affect the Observed Global Dimming and Brightening

Global dimming and brightening: A review

[1] There is increasing evidence that the amount of solar radiation incident at the Earth’s surface is not stable over the years but undergoes significant decadal variations. Here I review the evidence for these changes, their magnitude, their possible causes, their representation in climate models, and their potential implications for climate change. The various studies analyzing long-term rec...

Mechanisms of the dimming and brightening aftereffects.

Dimming and brightening aftereffects occur after exposure to a temporal luminance sawtooth stimulus: A subsequently presented steady test field appears to become progressively dimmer or brighter, depending on the polarity of the adapting sawtooth. Although described as "dimming" and "brightening," it is plausible that a component of the aftereffects is based on contrast changes rather than on l...

Do climate models reproduce observed solar dimming and brightening over China and Japan?

[1] Previous research indicates that clear‐sky downward solar radiation measured at the surface over China significantly decreased by about −8.6 W m per decade during 1961–1989 and insignificantly increased during 1990–1999. Furthermore, solar radiation over Japan remained relatively constant during 1971–1989 and significantly increased by +5.3 W m per decade during 1990–1999. The present study...

The roles of aerosol, water vapor and cloud in future global dimming/brightening

Trends in aerosol radiative effects over Europe inferred from observed cloud cover, solar ‘‘dimming,’’ and solar ‘‘brightening’’

[1] We examine multidecadal changes in surface downward shortwave (SW) radiation flux, total cloud cover, SW cloud effect, and related parameters over Europe during 1965– 2004 using monthly gridded data from the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA), synoptic cloud reports, and the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP). One key issue is distinguishing the effects of natural c...