Global warming and changes in atmospheric thickness during the cold period of the year in Iran

The main purpose of this study is to investigate changes in atmospheric thickness and its relationship with temperature changes during the cold period of the year. To achieve this goal, data on geopotential elevation and temperature of 1000 hPa for the years 1960 to 2020 have been extracted from the NCEP NCAR site. In the next step, using the programming capabilities of Gardes, numerical extraction of atmospheric thickness between the levels of 1000 to 5000 hPa per meter and temperature data of the level of 1000 hPa in degrees Celsius was performed. Four 15-year periods are divided. The spatial distribution of the 15-year average and the 60-year long-term average, as well as the positive anomalies showed that the thickness of the atmosphere increased significantly during the first to the fourth period, and this increase reached its maximum in the fourth period. The study of the trend in the first period has shown a decrease in the thickness of the atmosphere for the whole of Iran, but with the beginning of 1976 (beginning of the second period) we have witnessed a sharp increase in the thickness of the atmosphere, which continued until the fourth period. The results of Pearson correlation coefficient showed that there is a significant relationship between changes in atmospheric thickness and temperature changes in the cold period of Iran at the 95% confidence level. Spatially, this correlation reaches its highest level in the west, northwest and southwest of the country. As a result, it can be said that the thickness of Iran's atmosphere has increased significantly in recent years, and one of the reasons is the change in the nature of inflows to Iran and, of course, global warming.