Temperature Trends on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). An Example of Global Warming over the Subtropical Northeastern Atlantic

Abstract

The variation in temperature on the island of Gran Canaria is studied using the method applied to the nearby island of Tenerife [1]. An upward warming trend of 0.09°C ± 0.05°C (α = 0.01) was seen from 1946 to date, which has accelerated since the seventies to 0.17°C ± 0.10°C (α = 0.01). The increase was higher at night (0.11°C ± 0.05°C) than by day (0.08°C ± 0.06°C), so the temperature range decreased slightly. These values are similar to those of Tenerife and the time series of anomalies for the two islands are highly correlated. On the coast the same relationship to the sea surface temperature was found as in Tenerife, but in the mid-altitude areas to windward, some differences were detected that are hypothetically attributable to the different relief of the two islands.