Testing global stilling with ERA5 reanalysis data
Date:
“Global Terrestrial Stilling”, a noticeable decrease in wind speeds around the globe, has been reported, with implications for energy generation and evaporation. The two leading possible causes are increased surface roughness due to land use changes and general climate changes. However, some long-term regional studies show no trend of decreasing wind speeds. Global wind speed data since 1979 is available in reanalysis datasets. Here, we use ERA5 to map decadal averages of 10m wind speed. The results show that, when comparing the 1980s and 2010s, there is a complex pattern of small increases (within 5% of zero), with notable additions (10 to 20%) scattered within equatorial regions and decreases (5 to 10%) in polar regions and portions of southern Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. However, from the 1980s to the 2010s, there was a significant decrease in global wind speed by 1.82%.
Rahman S.S., Lee J.A., Li H., Aziz M.T. (2023). Testing global stilling with ERA5 reanalysis data. AAG Annual Meeting, March 23-27, Denver, Colorado, USA.