On the role of air temperature in humidity variations in the Northern hemisphere in the second part of XX century

摘要

A water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Therefore, variations of the water vapor content can be one of the important factors determining observable changes of a climate. Based on NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data , a complex analysis of humidity and air temperature is carried out at standard isobaric levels at middle and high latitudes in the Northern hemisphere. It is shown that atmospheric water vapor variations are produced, for the most part, by air temperature variations caused by radiation balance variations.