Surface energy budget diagnosis reveals possible mechanism for the different warming rate among Earth’s three poles in recent decades

Abstract The Arctic, Antarctic and Tibetan Plateau (TP) are pivotal and sensitive areas of global climate change. Based on two reanalysis datasets during 1980–2017 with in situ observational verification, here we investigate the surface temperature ( T s ) changes in these regions and the possible reasons by diagnosing the surface energy balance equation. In recent decades, the T s of the Arctic and the TP exhibit much larger warming rates compared with the global average. Meanwhile, a weak warming trend can be detected in the Antarctic continent, accompanied by a slight cooling trend in the surrounding ocean. In the Arctic and TP, clear-sky downward long-wave radiation (LW) affected by atmospheric water vapor is the dominant factor regulating the T s change, whereas the change in sea ice played an important role in modulating the T s over the polar seas efficiently via influencing the ice albedo feedback and sea surface heat storage capacity.