CLIMATIC VARIATIONS IN CHINA OVER THE LAST 2000 YEARS

A compilation of paleoclimate records from ice core, tree-rings, lake sediments and historical documents provides a view of temperature change in China over the recent 2000 years. For all-China temperature reconstruction, six sub-stages are identified for the last two millennia. Around AD 0－240, AD 800－1100, AD 1320－1400 and the period from AD 1880 on were warm while around AD 240－800, AD 1100－1320, AD 1400－1880 were cold. Also, temperature varied from region to region in each of the warm or cold periods. The Eastern Han warm period (0－AD 240), the cold period covering the span of Wei, Jin, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the MWP (AD 800－1100) and succeeding LIA occurred in eastern China and the Qilian Mountains. Only the first two climatic events were recorded in Guliya ice core while the so-called MWP and LIA was far weaker. Also, the warming between AD 800 and 1100 didn′t occur in the south of Xizang (Tibet) Plateau. Instead, the southern Xizang Plateau experienced warming in AD 1150－1400. The aggregated China temperature agrees well with North-hemisphere temperature in the past millennia, indicating close relationship of temperature changes between China and North-hemisphere.

Preliminary Analysis of Climatic Variation during the Last 39 Years in China

The preliminary analysis of climatic variation in China during the last 39 years has been made in this paper. The results show that although the global climate is getting warmer, some parts of China are cooling. The warming only occurs in Northeast, North and the west part of Northwest China while the areas between about 35°N and Nanling Mountain, east of the Tibetan Plateau in China are getting cooler. The cooling centers are located in Sichuan, the south part of Shaanxi and the north part of Yunnan respectively. According to the theory of greenhouse effect, there are much precipitation at low and high latitudes and less precipitation in middle latitude. However, the precipitation in the most parts of China has been decreased, especially in North and Northwest China.

A climatic variation observed in permafrost temperature at Kangiqsualujjuaq in northern Quebec

Permafrost temperatures from the surface down to about 9 m from 3 boreholes distributed around Kangiqsualujjuaq village on the coast of Hudson Strait were recorded and analyzed for the period 1989 1998. The results indicate that the permafrost is getting warm along the southern shore of Hudson Strait from 1993 to 1998 though it became cooling for the past 40 a or more. The observed trend in the order of 0.098℃/a at the 9 m depth is consistent with the long term regional warming observed in air temperatures. It also coincides with that all the global circulation models predict an enhanced warming in polar regions associated with the increase in concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Dynamics and Responses of Vegetation to Climatic Variations in Ziya- Daqing Basins, China

Examining the direct and indirect effects of climatic factors on vegetation growth is critical to understand the complex linkage between climate change and vegetation dynamics. Based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) data and meteorological data(temperature and precipitation) from 2001 to 2012, the trend of vegetation dynamics were examined in the Ziya-Daqing basins, China. The path analysis was used to obtain the information on the relationships among climatic factors and their effects on vegetation growth. It was found that the trends of growing season NDVI were insignificant in most plain dry land, while the upward trends were significant in forest, grass and dry land in Taihang Mountains. According to the path analysis, in 23% of the basins the inter-annual NDVI variation was dominated by the direct effect of precipitation, in 5% by the direct effects of precipitation and temperature, and in less than 1% by the direct effect of temperature or indirect effects of these two climatic factors. It indicated that precipitation significantly affected the vegetation growth in the whole basins, and this effect was not regulated by temperature. Precipitation increase(especially in July, August and September) was favorable to greenness enhancement. Summer temperature rising showed negative effect on plant productivity enhancement, but temperature rise in April was beneficial for the vegetation growth. When April temperature increases by 1℃, the onset date of greenness for natural vegetation will be 2 days in advance. There was a lag-time effect of precipitation or temperature on monthly NDVI for all land use types except grass.

Responses of grassland vegetation to climatic variations on different temporal scales in Hulun Buir Grassland in the past 30 years

Global warming has led to significant vegetation changes especially in the past 20 years. Hulun Buir Grassland in Inner Mongolia, one of the world’s three prairies, is undergoing a process of prominent warming and drying. It is essential to investigate the effects of climatic change （temperature and precipitation） on vegetation dynamics for a better understanding of climatic change. NDVI （Normalized Difference Vegetation Index）, reflecting characteristics of plant growth, vegetation coverage and biomass, is used as an indicator to monitor vegetation changes. GIMMS NDVI from 1981 to 2006 and MODIS NDVI from 2000 to 2009 were adopted and integrated in this study to extract the time series characteristics of vegetation changes in Hulun Buir Grassland. The responses of vegetation coverage to climatic change on the yearly, seasonal and monthly scales were analyzed combined with temperature and precipitation data of seven meteorological sites. In the past 30 years, vegetation coverage was more correlated with climatic factors, and the correlations were dependent on the time scales. On an inter-annual scale, vegetation change was better correlated with precipitation, suggesting that rainfall was the main factor for driving vegetation changes. On a seasonal-interannual scale, correlations between vegetation coverage change and climatic factors showed that the sensitivity of vegetation growth to the aqueous and thermal condition changes was different in different seasons. The sensitivity of vegetation growth to temperature in summers was higher than in the other seasons, while its sensitivity to rainfall in both summers and autumns was higher, especially in summers. On a monthly-interannual scale, correlations between vegetation coverage change and climatic factors during growth seasons showed that the response of vegetation changes to temperature in both April and May was stronger. This indicates that the temperature effect occurs in the early stage of vegetation growth. Correlations between vegetation growth and precipitation of the month before the current month, were better from May to August, showing a hysteresis response of vegetation growth to rainfall. Grasses get green and begin to grow in April, and the impacts of temperature on grass growth are obvious. The increase of NDVI in April may be due to climatic warming that leads to an advanced growth season. In summary, relationships between monthly-interannual variations of vegetation coverage and climatic factors represent the temporal rhythm controls of temperature and precipitation on grass growth largely.

Climatic variation of tropical cyclones affecting China during the past 50 years

Trends of the tropical cyclones (TCs) influence on China and its four subregions,namely the South China (SC),East China (EC),Northeast China (NEC),and China's inland area (CI),are detected by applying quantile regression to the CMA-STI tropical cyclone best track and related severe wind and precipitation observation datasets.The results indicate that in the past 50 years,the number of TCs affecting China and its four subregions has remained steady,except that the frequency in extremely active years has decreased not only in China as a whole,but also in NEC.In addition,TC activity is found to have weakened over the northwest South China Sea,Guangdong,and Shandong Peninsula.However,the most important changes in seasonality are found in the first quartiles of the number of days of TCs affecting CI.While the extreme values of sustained winds all have decreasing trends,the extreme values of wind gusts are completely different not only among different orders of extreme values,but also among different subregions.However,the trends of extreme TC rainfall,namely the maximum storm precipitation and the maximum 1-h precipitation,are not significant.

Altitude Effects of Climatic Variation on Tibetan Plateau and Its Vicinities

High topographies, such as the Tibetan plateau （TP） in China, have been considered as the sensitive areas in response to global climate change. By analyzing the relationship between warming structure and altitude （1 000-5 000 m） in the TP and its vicinities using the 46-year January mean observed temperature data, we found that there was a significant altitude effect of temperature warming onset time （mutation time） on the plateau and the neighboring regions： the higher the altitude, the later the climate warming happens, and vice versa. There also seems a slight altitude effect on warming magnitude： the higher the altitude, the less the warming magnitude. Therefore, the temperature warming in the high altitude area of the TP （below 5 000 m） responds to global warming less sensitively than the low-altitude neighboring areas both in onset time and magnitude, which may be mainly caused by high albedo and large thermal capacity of the ice/snow cover on the higher part of the plateau and possible heat island effect in the lower part of the plateau.

SIMULATION ON CLIMATIC VARIATION OF ARCTIC SEA ICE THROUGH AN ICE-OCEAN COUPLED MODEL

An ocean model developed by the Institute of Marine Research and the University of Bergen in Norway (BOM) and a state-of-the-art sea ice model developed by NCAR (CSIM4) are coupled, Considering influences of 9 major rivers,forced by the NCEP reanalysis atmospheric fields and the Levitus surface salinity,the Arctic sea ice climatic variation from January 1949 to December.1999 was simulated through the coupled model.The comparison of simulated results and observations shows that:(1)the long-term ice concentration variation tendencies are in consistent with the observations in the divisional ocean regions;(2)simulated ice thickness horizontal distribution is reasonable.Simulated ice thickness has a decreasing tendency in the central Arctic,which agrees with the submarine observations.Simulated annually maximum ice thickness is highly related to observed fast-ice thickness off the Russian coast;and (3)sea ice area/volume fluxes through the Fram Strait are in accord with the satellite-derived data.Generally,the coupled model successfully simulated the Arctic Ocean sea ice climatic variation.

Characteristics of Spatial and Temporal Variations of Monthly Mean Surface Air Temperature over Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The recorded meteorological data of monthly mean surface air temperature from 72 meteorological stations over the Qinghal-Tibet Plateau in the period of 1960-2003 have been analyzed by using Empirical Orthogonal Function （EOF） method, to understand the detailed features of its temporal and spatial variations. The results show that there was a high consistency of the monthly mean surface air temperature, with a secondarily different variation between the north and the south of the plateau. Warming trend has existed at all stations since the 1960s, while the warming rates were different in various zones. The source regions of big rivers had intense warming tendency. June, November and December were the top three fast-warming months since the 1960s; while April, July and September presented dramatic warming tendency during the last decade.

Impact of climate variation on fog in China

Using foggy days and mean temperature and relative humidity data of 602 stations from January to December in the period 1961-2003 in China, the relationship between variations of foggy days and temperature and its possible reason for the 43 years were analyzed by regression, correlation and contrastive analysis methods. The results show that the higher （lower） the mean temperature and the lower （higher） the relative humidity correspond to less （more） foggy days, the relationship is the best in the western, northern and eastern Sichuan, Yunnan-Guizhon Plateau, and southeast highland in China. This induces a decrease in relative humidity when the climate becomes warmer, and eventually brings about a decrease in foggy days in China.

Influence of Climatic Change on Rice Production in Anqing Zone

[Objective] The research aimed to study the influence of climatic variation on rice production in Anqing zone.[Method] Based on temperature and precipitation data in rice growth period (May-November) during 1980-2009,by using five-year sliding average method,the moving average charts of temperature and rainfall were made.The variation characteristics of main factors (temperature and precipitation) which affected rice growth were analyzed.By using line moving average simulation method,the climatic yield was separated,and the influence of climatic factor on rice yield in Anqing zone was analyzed.[Result] In recent 30 years,the temperature presented rise trend in rice growth period in Anqing zone.Started from 1993,the rise was obvious.But the rainfall had decline trend,and the rainfall was stable after 2000.These were the climatic background for that rice yield had a wave of quick increase after 2000.Seen from the separated results of trend yield and meteorological yield,the variation range of relative meteorological yield was big,and the maximum yield reduction reached 27.5%.In recent 30 years,there were four yield reduction years.The relationship between meteorological yield of rice and temperature was positive correlation except in September.The excessive rainfall in the rice harvest period had unfavorable influence on rice yield.The drought was the main meteorological agricultural disaster which affected rice yield in the zone.[Conclusion] The research provided the theoretical basis for improving grain yield in Anqing zone.

A Review of Decadal/Interdecadal Climate Variation Studies in China

Decadal/interdecadal climate variability is an important element in the CLIVAR (Climate Variability and Predictability) and has received much attention in the world. Many studies in relation to interdecadal variation have also been completed by Chinese scientists in recent years. In this paper, an introduction in outline for interdecadal climate variation research in China is presented. The content includes the features of interdecadal climate variability in China, global warming and interdecadal temperature variability, the NAO (the North Atlantic Oscillation)/NPO (the North Pacific Oscillation) and interdecadal climate variation in China, the interdecadal variation of the East Asian monsoon, the interdecadal mode of SSTA (Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly) in the North Pacific and its climate impact, and abrupt change feature of the climate.

The NPO/ NAO and Interdecadal Climate Variation in China

This article discusses the interannual variation of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and North Pacific Oscillation (NPO), its relationship with the interdecadal climate variation in China which is associated with the climate jump in the Northern Hemisphere in the 1960’s, using the data analyses. It is clearly shown that both the amplitudes of the NAO and NPO increase obviously in the 1960’s and the main period of the oscillations changes from 3-4 years before the 1960’s to 8–15 years after the 1960’s. Therefore, interdecadal climate variation in China or the climate jump in the 1960’s is closely related to the anomalies of the NAO and NPO. Key words North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) - North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) - Climate Jump - Interdecadal climate variation This work was supported by National Key Basic Science Program in China (G1998040903), Chinese Academy of Science and the National Natural Science Fundation of China (Grant No.49823002).The authors are also grateful to Ms. Wang Xuan for typing the manuscript.

Glacier Variation in Response to Climate Change in Chinese Tianshan Mountains from 1989 to 2012

Based on the 1990, 2000 and 2011 Landsat TM/ETM+ remote sensing data, glacier information of three periods in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains were extracted by using ratio threshold method(TM3/TM5) and visual interpretation, combined with digital processing of satellite images and analysis in GIS. The climate data in the surrounding area were analyzed by using linear regression, Mann-Kendall abrupt test, and Morlet wavelet analysis. Study results showed that: over the 23 years investigation, the glacier areas have markedly decreased. In the last 12 years(2000 to 2011), the rate of retreat has begun to accelerate. The most dramatic glacier shrinkage occurred in the central region, the lowest in the eastern region. The mean summer temperature and warm precipitation in Chinese Tianshan Mountains had an increasing trend, with rates of 0.22°C /10 a and 5.1mm/10 a from 1960 to 2011, respectively. Mean summer temperature have experienced a strong increase in 1998. The analysis of the results showed that the rise of mean summer temperature was the main factor that contributed to glacier shrinkage. Regional differences of glacier area changes were investigated by analyzing glacier behavior in five study sub-regions; regional differences are related to local climate, to the relative proportion of glaciers in different size classes, altitudinal and aspect distribution of glaciated areas. In addition, the lag theory indicated that glaciers may accelerate the retreat in the next decade, considering climate trends recognized for the period 2000-2011.

The climatic and hydrological changes and environmental responses recorded in lake sediments of Xinjiang,China

Based on the analyses of environmental proxy data in lake sediments and instrumental records of Xinjiang in northwest China, the Holocene climate and hydrological variability and its environmental responses were studied in different time scales and regions. The results showed that the Holocene climate variability had obvious differences between the north and south of Xinjiang. In northern Xinjiang, the Holocene climate was dry in the early period, humid in the middle period, and then changed to dry in the late period. However, the climate transition times were not consistent in different regions. In southern Xin- jiang, although there were many different types of climate change patterns inferred from different catch- ments, the warm and wet climate was recorded in most lake sediments in the middle Holocene. According to comparisons of some millennium scale records in lake sediments, the climate was warm and dry in the past 100 years. It can be concluded the climate showed a trend of aridity in Holocene. Especially in recent 50 years, the lake area has been shrinking rapidly because of the population growth and social economic development, which brings some environmental problems. Lake level and area changes were sensitively affected by the climate variation in geological history of Xinjiang and the lake level will continue to shrink because of the drought climate and strengthened human activities.

Effect of Aspect on Climate Variation in Mountain Ranges of Shennongjia Massif, Central China

The aim of this study was to better understand the mechanisms of regional climate variation in mountain ranges with contrasting aspects as mediated by changes in global climate. It may help predict trends of vegetation variations in native ecosystems in natural reserves. As measures of climate response, temperature and precipitation data from the north, east, and south-facing mountain ranges of Shennongjia Massif in the coldest and hottest months(January and July), different seasons(spring, summer, autumn, and winter) and each year were analyzed from a long-term dataset(1960 to 2003) to tested variations characteristics, temporal and spatial quantitative relationships of climates. The results showed that the average seasonal temperatures and precipitation in the north, east, and south aspects of the mountain ranges changed at different rates. The average seasonal temperatures change rate ranges in the north, east, and south-facing mountain ranges were from –0.0210℃/yr to 0.0143℃/yr, –0.0166℃/yr to 0.0311℃/yr, and –0.0290 ℃/yr to 0.0084℃/yr, respectively, and seasonal precipitation variation magnitude were from –1.4940 mm/yr to 0.6217 mm/yr, –1.6833 mm/yr to 2.6182 mm/yr, and –0.8567 mm/yr to 1.4077 mm/yr, respectively. The climates variation trend among the three mountain ranges were different in magnitude and direction, showing a complicated change of the climates in mountain ranges and some inconsistency with general trends in global climate change. The climate variations were significantly different and positively correlated cross mountain ranges, revealing that aspects significantly affected on climate variations and these variations resulted from a larger air circulation system, which were sensitive to global climate change. We conclude that location and terrain of aspect are the main factors affecting differences in climate variation among the mountain ranges with contrasting aspects.

Analysis on the Climate Variation Characteristics of Frost in Shandong Province

[Objective] The research aimed to study the climate variation characteristics of frost in Shandong Province. [Method] The daily minimum surface temperature ≤ 0 ℃ in autumn or spring was as the frost index. Based on the daily minimum surface temperature data in 67 meteorological observatories of Shandong Province during 1961-2008, the variation characteristics of first, last frost dates and frost-free period in Shandong Province were analyzed by using the climate diagnosis analysis method. [Result] The climate characteristics of first, last frost dates and frost-free period had the obvious geographical differences in Shandong Province in recent 48 years. The extreme differences of first, last frost dates and frost-free period were all above the three times of their standard deviations. It illustrated that the dispersion degrees of first, last dates and frost-free period were all very big. The average first frost date postponed with 1.99 d/10 a velocity in Shandong Province in recent 48 years, and the last frost date advanced with 1.46 d/10 a velocity. The postponing range of first frost date was bigger than the advancing range of last frost date, and the frost-free period prolonged with 3.42 d/10 a velocity. Seen from the interdecadal variations, the first frost date started to obviously postpone, and the last frost date obviously advanced since the 1990s. The frost-free period also started to obviously prolong since the 1990s. [Conclusion] The research provided the certain reference for the predication, prevention of frost disaster and the structure adjustment of crops.

Global sea level variations from altimetry,GRACE and Argo data over 2005-2014

Total sea level variations（SLVs） are caused by two major components：steric variations due to thermal expansion of seawater,and mass-induced variations due to mass exchange between ocean and land.In this study,the global SLV and its steric and mass components were estimated by satellite altimetry,Argo float data and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment（GRACE） data over 2005-2014.Space gravimetry observations from GRACE suggested that two-thirds of the global mean sea level rise rate observed by altimetry（i.e.,3.1 ± 0.3 mm/a from 2005 to 2014） could be explained by an increase in ocean mass.Furthermore,the global mean sea level was observed to drop significantly during the2010/2011 La Nina event,which may be attributed to the decline of ocean mass and steric SLV.Since early 2011,the global mean sea level began to rise rapidly,which was attributed to an increase in ocean mass.The findings in this study suggested that the global mean sea-level budget was closed from 2005 to 2014 based on altimetry,GRACE,and Argo data.

Water storage variations in the Poyang Lake Basin estimated from GRACE and satellite altimetry

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment（GRACE） satellite mission provides a unique opportunity to quantitatively study terrestrial water storage（TWS） variations. In this paper,the terrestrial water storage variations in the Poyang Lake Basin are recovered from the GRACE gravity data from January 2003 to March 2014 and compared with the Global Land Data Assimilation System（GLDAS） hydrological models and satellite altimetry. Furthermore, the impact of soil moisture content from GLDAS and rainfall from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission（TRMM） on TWS variations are investigated. Our results indicate that the TWS variations from GRACE, GLDAS and satellite altimetry have a general consistency. The TWS trends in the Poyang Lake Basin determined from GRACE, GLDAS and satellite altimetry are increasing at 0.0141 km^3/a, 0.0328 km^3/a and 0.0238 km^3/a,respectively during the investigated time period. The TWS is governed mainly by the soil moisture content and dominated primarily by the precipitation but also modulated by the flood season of the Yangtze River as well as the lake and river exchange water.

Study on Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Climate Variation in Hebei Area during 1956-2007

[Objective] The research aimed to study temporal and spatial characteristics of climate variation in Hebei area during 1956-2007. [Method] Based on the data from 23 weather stations evenly distributed over Hebei area (included Beijing and Tianjin) during 1956-2007, by using statistical analytic method, the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of main meteorological factors (temperature and precipitation, etc.) in the area were analyzed. The variation fact and evolution rule of climate in the area in 52 years were discussed. [Result] In Hebei area during 1956-2007, the annual and four-season temperatures both presented wavy rise trends. The temperature increment in winter was the maximum, contributing the most to the annual temperature elevation in this area. The temperatures in the whole district all presented rise trends, and the variation difference had regularity. The annual and four-season rainfalls both had large fluctuation amplitudes, following different linear variation trends. The annual rainfall overall presented wavy decrease trends. The spatial difference of rainfall variation was significant. The rainfalls in the whole district all presented decrease trends. The decrease amplitude presented low-high-low pattern from the northeast to the southwest. The potential evaporation capacity over the whole district was the highest in the 1960s, and decreased ever since instead of increasing with the temperature. The potential evaporation capacities of each season also presented decline trends. Except in Fengning and Yuxian, the evaporation capacities of other stations in the whole district all presented decline trends. The relative humidity slightly decreased as time, with the exception of Chengde, Qinhuangdao and Nangong. The sunshine hours had a clear decrease trends. [Conclusion] The research provided scientific basis for realizing regional sustainable development, improving ecological environment and people’s life quality.