extreme cold
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Atmosphere ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Zhenwang Li ◽  
Zhengchao Qiu ◽  
Haixiao Ge ◽  
Changwen Du

Short episodes of low-temperature stress during reproductive stages can cause significant crop yield losses, but our understanding of the dynamics of extreme cold events and their impact on rice growth and yield in the past and present climate remains limited. In this study, by analyzing historical climate, phenology and yield component data, the spatial and temporal variability of cold stress during the rice heading and flowering stages and its impact on rice growth and yield in China was characterized. The results showed that cold stress was unevenly distributed throughout the study region, with the most severe events observed in the Yunnan Plateau with altitudes higher than 1800 m. With the increasing temperature, a significant decreasing trend in cold stress was observed across most of the three ecoregions after the 1970s. However, the phenological-shift effects with the prolonged growing period during the heading and flowering stages have slowed down the cold stress decreasing trend and led to an underestimation of the magnitude of cold stress events. Meanwhile, cold stress during heading and flowering will still be a potential threat to rice production. The cold stress-induced yield loss is related to both the intensification of extreme cold stress and the contribution of related components to yield in the three regions.


Author(s):  
Yao Yao ◽  
Wenqi Zhang ◽  
Dehai Luo ◽  
Linhao Zhong ◽  
Lin Pei

AbstractStarting in mid-November, China was hit by several cold events during the early winter of 2020/21. The lowest temperature observed at Beijing station on 7 January reached −19.6°C. In this paper, we show that the outbreak of the record-breaking extreme cold event can be attributed to a huge merging Ural blocking (UB) ridge over the Eurasian region. The sea-ice cover in the Kara and East Siberia Seas (KESS) in autumn was at its lowest value since 1979, which could have served as a precursor signal. Further analysis shows that several successive UB episodes occurred from 1 September 2020 to 10 January 2021. The persistent UB that occurred in late September/early October 2020 may have made an important contribution to the October historical minimum of sea ice in the KESS region. Our results also show that, after each UB episode in winter, significant upward propagation of wave activity occurred around 60°E, which resulted in weakening the stratospheric vortex. Meanwhile, each UB episode also caused a significant reduction in sea-ice extent in KESS and a significant weakening of the westerly jet in mid-high-latitude Eurasia. Results suggest that the Arctic vortex, which is supposed to enhance seasonally, became weaker and more unstable than the climatic mean under the seasonal cumulative effects of UB episodes, KESS warming, and long-lasting negative-phase North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO-). Those seasonal cumulative effects, combined with the impact of La Niña winter, led to the frequent occurrence of extreme cold events.


Author(s):  
Fei Zheng ◽  
Ji-Ping Liu ◽  
Xiang-Hui Fang ◽  
Mi-Rong Song ◽  
Chao-Yuan Yang ◽  
...  

AbstractSeveral consecutive extreme cold events impacted China during the first half of winter 2020/21, breaking the low-temperature records in many cities. How to make accurate climate predictions of extreme cold events is still an urgent issue. The synergistic effect of the warm Arctic and cold tropical Pacific has been demonstrated to intensify the intrusions of cold air from polar regions into middle-high latitudes, further influencing the cold conditions in China. However, climate models failed to predict these two ocean environments at expected lead times. Most seasonal climate forecasts only predicted the 2020/21 La Niña after the signal had already become apparent and significantly underestimated the observed Arctic sea ice loss in autumn 2020 with a 1–2 month advancement. In this work, the corresponding physical factors that may help improve the accuracy of seasonal climate predictions are further explored. For the 2020/21 La Niña prediction, through sensitivity experiments involving different atmospheric-oceanic initial conditions, the predominant southeasterly wind anomalies over the equatorial Pacific in spring of 2020 are diagnosed to play an irreplaceable role in triggering this cold event. A reasonable inclusion of atmospheric surface winds into the initialization will help the model predict La Niña development from the early spring of 2020. For predicting the Arctic sea ice loss in autumn 2020, an anomalously cyclonic circulation from the central Arctic Ocean predicted by the model, which swept abnormally hot air over Siberia into the Arctic Ocean, is recognized as an important contributor to successfully predicting the minimum Arctic sea ice extent.


Significance The extreme cold comes as the province is still dealing with the damage caused by unprecedented levels of heat and wildfires last summer and then record levels of rainfall and flooding in November. Its experience has focused attention on Canada’s wider vulnerability to the impact of shifting weather patterns and climate change. Impacts The natural resource sectors that are vital to Canada’s economy face an increasingly difficult environment for extraction. Indigenous peoples across the country will see their traditional ways of life further disrupted by climate change. The increasingly evident impacts of climate change on day-to-day life will see voters demand greater action from government. Significant investment in green initiatives, clean energy and climate resiliency initiatives will boost green industries.


Quaternary ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Jessica Chamberlin ◽  
Camryn Soehnlein ◽  
Jason Evans ◽  
Benjamin Tanner

Salt marshes and mangroves are currently being affected by rising temperatures. Mangroves thrive below −29° N latitude in Florida, USA, and have a low tolerance for extreme cold events, whereas salt marshes dominate further north. One potential effect of climate change is a reduction in the frequency of extreme cold events, which may lead to mangrove expansion into salt marsh systems. Our research identified sediment proxy indicators of salt marsh and mangrove environments. These indicators were applied to soil cores from intertidal wetlands near the current northern limit of mangrove presence on the east coast of Florida, to determine if mangrove expansion into salt marsh environments has precedence in the deeper past. Our findings suggest that mangrove and salt marsh sediments can be distinguished using a combination of stable carbon isotope ratios of sedimentary organic matter and macroscopic plant fragments, and our results showed that a mangrove stand that we cored established only recently. This result is consistent with other work in the southeastern United States that suggests that mangroves established at the current boreal limit only recently after the end of the Little Ice Age, and that the current mangrove expansion may be fueled by anthropogenic climate change.


Author(s):  
Aneta Teległów ◽  
Valerjan Romanovski ◽  
Beata Skowron ◽  
Dawid Mucha ◽  
Łukasz Tota ◽  
...  

Regular exposure to a cold factor—cold water swimming or ice swimming and cold air—results in an increased tolerance to cold due to numerous adaptive mechanisms in humans. Due to the lack of scientific reports on the effects of extremely low outdoor temperatures on the functioning of the human circulatory system, the aim of this study was to evaluate complete blood count and biochemical blood indices in multiple Guinness world record holder Valerjan Romanovski, who was exposed to extremely cold environment from −5 °C to −37 °C for 50 days in Rovaniemi (a city in northern Finland). Valerjan Romanovski proved that humans can function in extremely cold temperatures. Blood from the subject was collected before and after the expedition. The subject was found to have abnormalities for the following blood indices: testosterone increases by 60.14%, RBC decreases by 4.01%, HGB decreases by 3.47%, WBC decreases by 21.53%, neutrocytes decrease by 17.31%, PDW increases by 5.31%, AspAT increases by 52.81%, AlAT increase by 68.75%, CK increases by 8.61%, total cholesterol decreases by 5.88%, HDL increases by 28.18%. Percentage changes in other complete blood count and biochemical indices were within standard limits. Long-term exposure of the subject (50 days) to extreme cold stress had no noticeable negative effect on daily functioning.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-35

Abstract From 5 July to 11 September 2012, the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station experienced an unprecedented 78 days in a row with a maximum temperature at or below -50°C. Aircraft and ground-based activity cannot function without risk below this temperature. Lengthy periods of extreme cold temperatures are characterized by a drop in pressure of around 15 hPa over four days, accompanied by winds from grid east. Periodic influxes of warm air from the Weddell Sea raise the temperature as the wind shifts to grid north. The end of the event occurs when the temperature increase is enough to move past the -50°C threshold. This study also examines the length of extreme cold periods. The number of days below -50°C in early winter has been decreasing since 1999, and this trend is statistically significant at the 5% level. Late winter shows an increase in the number of days below -50°C for the same period, but this trend is not statistically significant. Changes in the Southern Annular Mode, El Niño Southern Oscillation, and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation/Tripole Index are investigated in relation to the initiation of extreme cold events. None of the correlations are statistically significant. A positive Southern Annular Mode and a La Niña event or a central Pacific El Niño Southern Oscillation pattern would position the upper-level circulation to favor a strong, symmetrical polar vortex with strong westerlies over the Southern Ocean, leading to a cold pattern over the South Pole.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Pirri ◽  
Lino Ometto ◽  
Silvia Fuselli ◽  
Flávia A.N. Fernandes ◽  
Lorena Ancona ◽  
...  

The eco-evolutionary history of penguins is profoundly influenced by their shift from temperate to cold environments. Breeding only in Antarctica during the winter, the Emperor penguin appears as an extreme outcome of this process, with unique features related to insulation, heat production and energy management. However, whether this species actually diverged from a less cold-adapted ancestor, thus more similar in ecology to its sister species, the King penguin, is still an open question. As the Antarctic niche shift likely resulted in vast changes in selective pressure experienced by the Emperor penguin, the identification and relative quantification of the genomic signatures of selection, unique to each of these sister species, could answer this question. Applying a suite of phylogeny-based methods on 7,651 orthologous gene alignments of seven penguins and 13 other birds, we identified a set of candidate genes showing significantly different selection regimes either in the Emperor or in the King penguin lineage. Our comparative approach unveils a more pervasive selection shift in the Emperor penguin, supporting the hypothesis that its extreme cold adaptation is a derived state from a more King penguin-like ecology. Among the candidate genes under selection in the Emperor penguin, four genes (TRPM8, LEPR, CRB1, and SFI1) were identified before in other cold adapted vertebrates, while, on the other hand, 161 genes can be assigned to functional pathways relevant to cold adaptation (e.g., cardiovascular system, lipid, fatty acid and glucose metabolism, insulation, etc.). Our results show that extreme cold adaptation in the Emperor penguin largely involved unique genetic options which, however, affect metabolic and physiological traits common to other cold-adapted homeotherms.


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