The amplitude-phase characteristics (APC) of surface air temperature (SAT) annual cycle (AC)in the Northern Hemisphere are analyzed. From meteorological observations for the 20th century andmeteorological reanalyses for its second half, it is found that over land negative correlation of SAT ACamplitude with annual mean SAT dominates. Nevertheless, some exceptions exist. The positive correlationbetween these two variables is found over the two desert regions: in northern Africa and in Central America.Areas of positive correlations are also found for the northern Pacific and for the tropical Indian and PacificOceans. Southward of the characteristic annual mean snow-ice boundary (SIB) position, the shape ofthe SAT AC becomes more sinusoidal under climate warming. In contrast, northward of it, this shapebecomes less sinusoidal. The latter is also found for the above-mentioned two desert regions. In theFar East (southward of about 50°N), the SAT AC shifts as a whole: here its spring and autumn phasesoccur earlier if the annual mean SAT increases. From energy-balance climate considerations, those trendsfor SAT AC APC in the middle and high latitudes are associated with the influence of the albedo-SATfeedback due to the SIB movement. In the Far East the trends are attributed to the interannual cloudinessvariability, and in the desert regions, to the influence of a further desertification and/or scattering aerosolloading into the atmosphere. In the north Pacific, the exhibited trends could only be explained as aresult of the influence of the greenhouse-gases loading on atmospheric opacity. The trends for SAT ACAPC related to the SIB movement are simulated reasonably well by the climate model of intermediatecomplexity (IAP RAS CM) in the experiment with greenhouse gases atmospheric loading. In contrast,the tendencies resulting from the cloudiness variability are not reproduced by this model. The model alsopartly simulates the tendencies related to the desertification processes.
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