We analyze the radiative damping of climatological variations in surface temperature based on relationships between surface temperature and top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes for both satellite observations and climate model simulations. The observed damping rates are generally consistent with positive radiative feedbacks over the tropical oceans, in agreement with climate model simulations. The model-simulated radiative damping rates are shown to be much more robust when analyzed at global scales, rather than tropical-means. Moreover, the model-simulated values of global-mean radiative damping rates deduced from interannual variability are shown to be modestly correlated to the climate sensitivity of the model in response to increasing CO2.