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Mediterranean warming is especially due to summer season

Evidences from Tuscany (central Italy)

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Abstract

We created a new homogenized daily minimum and maximum temperature data set (1955–2007) for the central Mediterranean area of Tuscany (Italy). Yearly and seasonal long-term trends of some climatic and extreme climatic indices were investigated. The results highlighted a positive trend for mean temperature of about 0.9°C per 50 years with a slightly more pronounced increase in maximum temperature. Seasonal analysis revealed a by far much greater increase in summer (June, July, August) and spring (March, April, May) temperature in respect of autumn and winter, this finding consistent with most recent Mediterranean evidences. Warm extremes showed an overall tendency to increase, while a slight not significant decrease trend was found in regard to frost days and cold extremes. Comparisons with different patterns of Mediterranean warming confirmed the magnitude of recent very fast rise in temperature, especially during summer. This change could be due to last decades modifications of general circulation patterns and land–temperature, land–precipitation positive feedback processes dependent from soil moisture. All these results confirm that the Mediterranean is a region especially responsive and thus very vulnerable to climate change.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the Tuscany Region “Regional Sanitary Service” grant: MeteoSalute Project, Interdepartmental Centre of Bioclimatology, University of Florence (CIBIC-UNIFI) and COST 734 Action “Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on European Agriculture” for supporting this work. We would like to thank Michele Brunetti of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Research Council (ISAC-CNR) for useful support and suggestions about the homogenization procedure. We are grateful to Annalena Puglisi for her precious support in the homogenization procedure, Paolo Lucchesini for his support in the collection and updating of the climatic series, and Alfonso Crisci (IBIMET-CNR) and Daniele Grifoni (IBIMET-CNR) for their hints about some statistical procedures.

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  1. Institute of Biometeorology of the National Research Council, IBIMET-CNR, Via G. Caproni, 8-50145, Florence, Italy

    Giorgio Bartolini

  2. Laboratory of Monitoring and Environmental Modelling for the Sustainable Development (LaMMA consortium), Via Madonna del Piano, 10, building D 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy

    Giorgio Bartolini

  3. Interdepartmental Centre of Bioclimatology, University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine, 18-50144, Florence, Italy

    Simone Orlandini

  4. Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Science, DIPSA, University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine, 18-50144, Florence, Italy

    Valentina di Stefano, Giampiero Maracchi & Simone Orlandini

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  2. Valentina di Stefano
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Correspondence to Giorgio Bartolini.

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Bartolini, G., di Stefano, V., Maracchi, G. et al. Mediterranean warming is especially due to summer season. Theor Appl Climatol 107, 279–295 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-011-0481-1

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