Articles | Volume 17, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-181-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-181-2026
Review
 | 
10 Feb 2026
Review |  | 10 Feb 2026

A global perspective on past and future change in regional seasonal cycle shape

Eva Holtanová, Jan Koláček, and Lukas Brunner

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Cited articles

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Bock, L., Lauer, A., Schlund, M., Barreiro, M., Bellouin, N., Jones, C., Meehl, G. A., Predoi, V., Roberts, M. J., and Eyring, V.: Quantifying progress across different CMIP phases with the ESMValTool, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 125, e2019JD032321, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD032321, 2020. 
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Brunner, L. and Voigt, A.: Pitfalls in diagnosing temperature extremes, Nat. Commun., 15, 2087, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46349-x, 2024. 
Short summary
We introduce Functional Data Analysis (FDA) as a new approach to diagnose changes in the temperature seasonal cycle. FDA allows the analysis without needing any prior assumptions about the cycle shape. We evaluate past and future changes based on two reanalyses and five CMIP6 models. We discuss regions of robust changes with datasets’ agreement, e.g., a delayed maximum in the south and east of Europe, while highlighting areas of larger dataset differences, mainly in polar and equatorial regions.
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