China's decrease in cloud cover accompanied by increased average nighttime temperatures casts into shadows the generally accepted theory that ties increases in global nighttime temperatures to increased cloud cover. The time series analysis by ORNL's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) shows a significant decrease in both daytime and nighttime cloud cover in China from 1954 through 1996, with an especially large drop-off beginning in 1978. Raw cloud amount data were provided by the China Meteorological Administration to CDIAC. The study, to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, raises many questions and may prompt additional research into atmospheric circulation patterns over China since the 1950s.
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