scholarly journals Mechanisms for Spatially Inhomogeneous Changes in East Asian Summer Monsoon Precipitation during the Mid-Holocene

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 2945-2965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Wang ◽  
Dabang Jiang ◽  
Xianmei Lang

AbstractThe East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) intensified during the early to mid-Holocene relative to the present primarily due to orbital forcing. However, on the regional scale, changes in the monsoonal precipitation exhibit considerable spatial disparity, and the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. In this study, the dynamic processes responsible for the difference of the EASM precipitation between the mid-Holocene and preindustrial period are systematically examined using the CMIP5 multimodel simulations. The moisture budget diagnostic identifies vertical motion as the key factor determining the cross-like precipitation pattern in East Asia. Relative to the preindustrial period, the mid-Holocene anomalous ascending motion corresponds well with the excessive precipitation over northern and southern China, and vice versa for west-central China, the Korean peninsula, Japan, and its marginal seas. In the framework of the moist static energy budget, the increased insolation and the attendant intensification of land–sea thermal contrast give rise to anomalous ascending motions, while descending motions are fundamentally forced by the decreased latitudinal insolation gradient. In particular, thermodynamic changes, namely, the reduced pole–equator temperature and humidity gradients, account for the downward motions over the northwestern Pacific. Dynamic changes, namely, the weakened westerlies, play a leading role in suppressing updrafts in west-central China. This study highlights that the orbital-scale monsoonal precipitation changes are not solely determined by local radiative forcing as repeatedly emphasized before. The latitudinal uneven distribution of insolation is crucial to explain the spatial inhomogeneity in the EASM precipitation changes during the Holocene.

2021 ◽  
Vol 558 ◽  
pp. 116758
Author(s):  
Yanjun Cai ◽  
Xing Cheng ◽  
Le Ma ◽  
Ruixue Mao ◽  
Sebastian F.M. Breitenbach ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yesi Zhao ◽  
Jiangfeng Shi ◽  
Shiyuan Shi ◽  
Xiaoqi Ma ◽  
Weijie Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Historical hydroclimate records derived from tree-ring parameters are scarce in the core region of East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) in China, limiting our understanding of the inter-decadal hydroclimate variability of this region and its possible connections with the EASM. In this study, standard chronologies of total tree-ring width (TRW), earlywood width (EWW), and latewood width (LWW) were created using tree-ring samples of Pinus tabulaeformis in the eastern Qinling Mountains, Central China. The strongest growth-climate relationship was found between EWW and May–July self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index (MJJ scPDSI). Therefore, a linear regression model, which explained 50.3 % of the variance in MJJ scPDSI (1951–2005), was developed to estimate the past MJJ scPDSI variations using EWW. The time series of MJJ scPDSI was extended back to the year 1866, and validated by independent hydroclimate series from nearby regions. Before the mid-1950s, the variations of MJJ scPDSI were in-phase with those of EASM intensity on decadal and longer timescales, suggesting that wet conditions would occur in the eastern Qinling Mountains when EASM was strengthened. Since the mid-1950s, however, the relationship has been out-of-phase. This phase change may be associated with an intensified dipole pattern of EASM precipitation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fucai Duan ◽  
Zhenqiu Zhang ◽  
Yi Wang ◽  
Jianshun Chen ◽  
Zebo Liao ◽  
...  

Abstract. Variations of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) during the last millennium could help enlighten the monsoonal response to future global warming. Here we present a precisely dated and highly resolved stalagmite δ18O record from the Yongxing Cave, central China. Our new record, combined with a previously published one from the same cave, indicates that the EASM has changed dramatically in association with the global temperature rising. In particular, our record shows that the EASM has intensified during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Current Warm Period (CWP) but weakened during the Little Ice Age (LIA). We find that the EASM intensity is similar during the MCA and CWP periods in both northern and central China, but relatively stronger during the CWP in southern China. This discrepancy indicates a complicated regional response of the EASM to the anthropogenic forcing. The intensified and weakened EASM during the MCA and LIA matches well with the warm and cold phases of Northern Hemisphere surface air temperature, respectively. This EASM pattern also corresponds well with the rainfall over the tropical Indo-Pacific warm pool. Surprisingly, our record shows a strong association with the North Atlantic climate as well. The intensified (weakened) EASM correlates well with positive (negative) phases of North Atlantic Oscillation. In addition, our record links well with the strong (weak) Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the MCA (LIA) period. All above-mentioned correlations indicate that the EASM tightly couples with oceanic processes in the tropical Pacific and North Atlantic oceans during the MCA and LIA.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Sun ◽  
Haibin Wu ◽  
Gilles Ramstein ◽  
Bo Liu ◽  
Yan Zhao ◽  
...  

Abstract The mid-Holocene (MH; 6 ka) is one of the benchmark periods for the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) and provides a unique opportunity to study monsoon dynamics and orbital forcing (i.e., mostly precession) that differ significantly from the present day. We conducted a data–model comparison along with a dynamic analysis to investigate monsoonal (i.e., East Asian summer monsoon; EASM) precipitation changes over East Asia during the MH. We used the three phases of the PMIP simulations for the MH, and quantitatively compared the model results with pollen-based climate records. The data–model comparison shows an overall increase in precipitation, except for a local decrease in EASM precipitation during the MH. Decomposition of the moisture budget into thermodynamic, dynamic components and co-variations in both allowed us to assess the relative role of thermodynamic and dynamic components in controlling EASM precipitation during the MH, and to investigate the precipitation changes obtained from pollen records in terms of physical processes. We show that the dynamic effect, rather than the thermodynamic effect, is the dominant control in increased EASM precipitation during the MH in both the proxy records and models. The dynamic increase in precipitation results mainly from the enhancement of horizontal monsoonal moisture transport that is caused by intensified stationary eddy horizontal circulation over East Asia. In addition, a cloud cooling effect reduced the thermodynamic contribution to the increase in EASM precipitation during the MH.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiawei Liu ◽  
Haiming Xu ◽  
Jiechun Deng

Abstract. Much research is needed regarding two long-term warming targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement, i.e., 1.5 °C and 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, especially from a regional perspective. The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) intensity and associated precipitation changes under both warming targets are explored in this study. Multimodel ensemble mean projections by 19 CMIP5 models show small increases in EASM intensity and general increases in summer precipitation at 1.5° and 2 °C warming, but with large multimodel standard deviations. Thus, a novel multimodel ensemble pattern regression (EPR) method is applied to give more reliable projections based on the concept of emergent constraints, which is effective to tighten the range of multimodel diversity and harmonize the changes of different variables over the EASM region. Future changes projected by using the EPR method suggest decreased precipitation over the Meiyu belt and increased precipitation over the high latitudes of East Asia and central China, together with a considerable weakening of EASM intensity. Furthermore, suppressed precipitation would appear over 30°–40° N of East Asia in June and over the Meiyu belt in July, with enhanced precipitation at their north and south sides. These changes in early summer are attributed to a southeastward retreat of western North Pacific high (WNPSH) and a southward shift of East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ), which weaken the moisture transport via southerly wind at low level and alter vertical motions over the EASM region. In August, precipitation would increase over the high latitudes of East Asia with more moisture from the wetter area over the ocean in the east and decrease over Japan with westward extension of WNPSH. These monthly precipitation changes would finally contribute to a tripolar pattern of EASM precipitation change at 1.5° and 2 °C warming. Corrected EASM intensity exhibits a slight difference between 1.5 °C and 2 °C, but a pronounced moisture increase during extra 0.5 °C leads to enhanced EASM precipitation over large areas in East Asia at 2 °C warming.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 19593-19630
Author(s):  
B. Z. Ge ◽  
Z. F. Wang ◽  
X. B. Xu ◽  
J. Tang ◽  
Y. J. He ◽  
...  

Abstract. The acidity of precipitation has been observed at stations of the Acid Rain Monitoring Network run by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA-ARMN) since 1992. Previous studies have shown that different long-term trends exist in different regions but detailed analysis of the causes of these is lacking. In this paper, we analyze summertime precipitation acidity data from the CMA-ARMN during 1992–2006 using EOFs and show that the summertime pH in China had different trends before and after 2000. The most significant decrease of pH is found in Central China. To investigate the causes of this decrease of pH in summer, we explore the relationship between changes in the pH value, the East Asian summer monsoon index, rainfall data, and pollutants emissions. We find that the East Asian summer monsoon can significantly affect the acidity of summer precipitation in Central China. In strong monsoon years, the pH in Central China is about 0.33 lower than that in weak monsoon years. Chemical transport model simulations using fixed emissions indicate that about 65% of the pH value difference (i.e., 0.22) is related to the summer monsoon, and constitutes 18–36% of the observed pH change (0.6–1.2) in Central China during 1992–2006. Further studies reveal a teleconnection between the pH in Central China and the rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR), which can explain about 24% of the variance of pH in Central China. Simulations using an annually varying emission inventory show that at least 60% of the variation in precipitation acidity in Central China can be attributed to changes in pollutant emissions. Therefore, the increase in emissions of acidic species is the most important cause for the observed decrease of pH in Central China, and changes in meteorological factors, such as rainfall and other parameters related to the East Asian summer monsoon, play a less important but still significant role.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1671-1684 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Z. Ge ◽  
Z. F. Wang ◽  
X. B. Xu ◽  
J. Tang ◽  
Y. J. He ◽  
...  

Abstract. The acidity of precipitation has been observed at stations of the Acid Rain Monitoring Network run by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA-ARMN) since 1992. Previous studies have shown that different long-term trends exist in different regions but detailed analysis of the causes of these is lacking. In this paper, we analyze summertime precipitation acidity data from the CMA-ARMN during 1992–2006 using EOFs and show that the summertime pH in China had different trends before and after 2000. The most significant decrease of pH is found in Central China. To investigate the causes of this decrease of pH in summer, we explore the relationship between changes in the pH value, the East Asian summer monsoon index, rainfall data, and pollutants emissions. We find that the East Asian summer monsoon can significantly affect the acidity of summer precipitation in Central China. In strong monsoon years, the pH in Central China is about 0.33 lower than that in weak monsoon years. Chemical transport model simulations using fixed emissions indicate that about 65% of the pH value difference (i.e., 0.22) is related to the summer monsoon, and constitutes 18–36% of the observed pH change (0.6∼1.2) in Central China during 1992–2006. Further studies reveal a relationship between the pH in Central China and the rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR), which can explain about 24% of the variance of pH in Central China. Simulations using an annually varying emission inventory show that at least 60% of the variation in precipitation acidity in Central China can be attributed to changes in pollutant emissions. Therefore, the increase in emissions of acidic species is the most important cause for the observed decrease of pH in Central China, and changes in meteorological factors, such as rainfall and other parameters related to the East Asian summer monsoon, play a less important but still significant role.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 2682-2698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Feng ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Wen Chen

Abstract Modulation of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) on the behavior of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) in El Niño decaying years has been studied. When El Niño is in phase with the PDO (El Niño/high PDO), the low-level atmospheric anomalies are characterized by an anticyclone around the Philippines and a cyclone around Japan, inducing an anomalous tripolar rainfall pattern in China. In this case, the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) experiences a one-time slightly northward shift in July and then stays stationary from July to August. The corresponding anomalous tripolar rainfall pattern has weak subseasonal variations. When El Niño is out of phase with the PDO (El Niño/low PDO), however, the anomalous Philippines anticyclone has a much larger spatial domain, thereby causing an anomalous dipole rainfall pattern. Accordingly, WPSH experiences clearly two northward shifts. Therefore, the related dipole rainfall pattern has large subseasonal variations. One pronounced feature is that the positive rainfall anomalies shift northward from southern China in June to central China in July and finally to northern China in August. The different El Niño–EASM relationships are caused by the influences of PDO on the decaying speed of El Niño. During the high PDO phase, El Niño decays slowly and has a strong anchor in the north Indian Ocean warming, which is responsible for the anomalous EASM. Comparatively, during the low PDO phase, El Niño decays rapidly and La Niña develops in summer, which induces different EASM anomalies from that during the high PDO phase. Additionally, PDO changes El Niño behaviors mainly via modifying the background tropical winds.


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