I have also shown previously that the cloud cover levels have decreased substantially since 1950.
So what happens if we eradicate the variable cloud cover from the database? In other words, if we keep the cloud cover level and adjust the temperatures, we should be able to see what happens to Australian temperatures at certain times of the day irrespective of any increase or decrease in cloud cover levels.
The following are the standard 8 graphs of temperature anomalies with the trend shown by the light blue line, and also the cloud adjusted temperature anomalies as represented by the regressed red line.
The graphs above might be confusing to some but let me explain.
Basically it shows that when we adjust for cloud cover during that particular year, the temperatures increases at Midnight, 3am and 6am have little difference. The slope of those lines is very similar. However at 9am a massive change occurs. When adjusting for clouds, instead of an increased temperature at a rate of 0.92 degrees per 100 years, it only increases by 0.68 degrees per 100 years, or a 26% less.
This increases even more so as you get to the 3pm time slot. Where previously we recorded a 1.09 degree per 100 years increase, when we account for cloud cover during that particular year, we only see a 0.44 degree increase per 100 years, or a 60% decrease in temperature. Interestingly, this is generally part of the day where the maximum temperature often occurs.
The trend then decreases, and then by 9pm, there is no difference between normal temperature anomalies and cloud adjusted temperature anomalies.
Quite clearly, the only times where clouds make a difference in the long term Australian temperature averages is during the day. The more clouds there are, the less the sun can get through and the cooler it is. Similarly for the opposite.
The graph below shows the difference between the average of the maximum and minimum temperatures in Australia and the average of the cloud adjusted temperature anomalies.
What the above graph shows, is that by using the normal method of calculating the average long term temperature, we have an increase of 1.17 degrees per 100 years, whilst the average of the cloud adjusted temperatures record an average of just 0.54 degrees per 100 years, or 54% less.
Perhaps it is true that we are overestimating how much Australia is warming up by more than double. But there is more to come on this, and in the next post I will look at some more long term trends in cloud cover and what effects they have on temperature, which will have very interesting results indeed.
