Precipitation-Surface Temperature Relationship in the IPCC CMIP5 Models

Precipitation and surface temperature are two important quantities whose variations are closely related through various physical processes. In the present study, we evaluated the precipitation-surface temperature （P-T） relationship in 17 climate models involved in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 （CMIP5） for the IPCC Assessment Report version 5. Most models performed reasonably well at simulat- ing the large-scale features of the P-T correlation distribution. Based on the pattern correlation of the P-T correlation distribution, the models performed better in November-December-January-February-March （NDJFM） than in May-June-July-August-September （MJJAS） except for the mid-latitudes of the North- ern Hemisphere, and the performance was generally better over the land than over the ocean. Seasonal dependence was more obvious over the land than over the ocean and was more obvious over the mid- and high-latitudes than over the tropics. All of the models appear to have had difficulty capturing the P-T correlation distribution over the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere in MJJAS. The spatial variabil- ity of the P-T correlation in the models was overestimated compared to observations. This overestimation tended to be larger over the land than over the ocean and larger over the mid- and high-latitudes than over the tropics. Based on analyses of selected model ensemble simulations, the spread of the P-T correlation among the ensemble members appears to have been small. While the performance in the P-T correlation provides a general direction for future improvement of climate models, the specific reasons for the discrep- ancies between models and observations remain to be revealed with detailed and comprehensive evaluations in various aspects.

Sea level rise projection in the South China Sea from CMIP5 models

Future potential sea level change in the South China Sea （SCS） is estimated by using 24 CMIP5 models under different representative concentration pathway （RCP） scenarios. By the end of the 21st century （2081–2100 relative to 1986–2005）, the multimodel ensemble mean dynamic sea level （DSL） is projected to rise 0.9, 1.6, and 1.1 cm under RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively, resulting in a total sea level rise （SLR） of 40.9, 48.6, and 64.1 cm in the SCS. It indicates that the SCS will experience a substantial SLR over the 21st century, and the rise is only marginal larger than the global mean SLR. During the same period, the steric sea level （SSL） rise is estimated to be 6.7, 10.0, and 15.3 cm under the three scenarios, respectively, which accounts only for 16%, 21% and 24% of the total SLR in this region. The changes of the SSL in the SCS are almost out of phase with those of the DSL for the three scenarios. The central deep basin has a slightly weak DSL rise, but a strong SSL rise during the 21st century, compared with the north and southwest shelves.

Future Precipitation Extremes in China under Climate Change and Their Physical Quantification Based on a Regional Climate Model and CMIP5 Model Simulations

The atmospheric water holding capacity will increase with temperature according to Clausius-Clapeyron scaling and affects precipitation.The rates of change in future precipitation extremes are quantified with changes in surface air temperature.Precipitation extremes in China are determined for the 21st century in six simulations using a regional climate model,RegCM4,and 17 global climate models that participated in CMIP5.First,we assess the performance of the CMIP5 models and RCM runs in their simulation of extreme precipitation for the current period(RF:1982-2001).The CMIP5 models and RCM results can capture the spatial variations of precipitation extremes,as well as those based on observations:OBS and XPP.Precipitation extremes over four subregions in China are predicted to increase in the mid-future(MF:2039-58)and far-future(FF:2079-98)relative to those for the RF period based on both the CMIP5 ensemble mean and RCM ensemble mean.The secular trends in the extremes of the CMIP5 models are predicted to increase from 2008 to 2058,and the RCM results show higher interannual variability relative to that of the CMIP5 models.Then,we quantify the increasing rates of change in precipitation extremes in the MF and FF periods in the subregions of China with the changes in surface air temperature.Finally,based on the water vapor equation,changes in precipitation extremes in China for the MF and FF periods are found to correlate positively with changes in the atmospheric vertical wind multiplied by changes in surface specific humidity(significant at the p<0.1 level).

Relationship between South China Sea Precipitation Variability and Tropical Indo-Pacific SST Anomalies in IPCC CMIP5 Models during Spring-to-Summer Transition

The present study evaluates the precipitation variability over the South China Sea（SCS） and its relationship to tropical Indo-Pacific SST anomalies during spring-to-summer transition（April–May–June,AMJ） simulated by 23 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 coupled models.Most of the models have the capacity to capture the AMJ precipitation variability in the SCS.The precipitation and SST anomaly（SSTA） distribution in the SCS,tropical Pacific Ocean（TPO）,and tropical Indian Ocean（TIO） domains is evaluated based on the pattern correlation coefficients between model simulations and observations.The analysis leads to several points of note.First,the performance of the SCS precipitation anomaly pattern in AMJ is model dependent.Second,the SSTA pattern in the TPO and TIO is important for capturing the AMJ SCS precipitation variability.Third,a realistic simulation of the western equatorial Pacific（WEP） and local SST impacts is necessary for reproducing the AMJ SCS precipitation variability in some models.Fourth,the overly strong WEP SST impacts may disrupt the relationship between the SCS precipitation and the TPO–TIO SST.Further work remains to be conducted to unravel the specific reasons for the discrepancies between models and observations in various aspects.

Climatology and interannual variability of the annual mean Hadley circulation in CMIP5 models

Using 26 climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5), climatology and the interannual variability of the annual mean Hadley circulation are evaluated. The results show that most of 26 models perform well in simulating the spatial structure of the climatology of the annual mean Hadley circulation, but the results derived from these models are generally weaker than that derived from the reanalysis dataset. Eighteen models can properly simulate well the asymmetric mode and symmetric mode of the annual mean Hadley circulation variability. Two models can only simulate asymmetric mode or symmetric mode and the other two models simulate reversed sequences of asymmetric mode and symmetric mode.The possible reason why some models cannot properly simulate the asymmetric mode and symmetric mode is that these models do not properly simulate the structure of zonal mean sea surface temperature(SST). Especially, not properly simulating variances of symmetric and asymmetric components of the SSTA will lead to reversed sequence of symmetric mode and asymmetric mode. And not properly simulated either symmetric or asymmetric component of the SSTA will lead to inability in simulating symmetric mode or asymmetric mode. On the other hand, some models properly simulate the asymmetric mode and symmetric mode, but do not properly simulate the responses to SST change.These models can not reflect the air sea coupling processes in associated with the Hadley circulation, therefore they should be taken more care when classify the models into groups.

Assessment of Indices of Temperature Extremes Simulated by Multiple CMIP5 Models over China

Given that climate extremes in China might have serious regional and global consequences, an increasing number of studies are examining temperature extremes in China using the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 （CMIP5） models. This paper investigates recent changes in temperature extremes in China using 25 state-of-the-art global climate models participating in CMIP5. Thirteen indices that represent extreme temperature events were chosen and derived by daily maximum and minimum temperatures, including those representing the intensity （absolute indices and threshold indices）, duration （duration indices）, and frequency （percentile indices） of extreme temperature. The overall performance of each model is summarized by a ＂portrait＂ diagram based on relative root-mean-square error, which is the RMSE relative to the median RMSE of all models, revealing the multi-model ensemble simulation to be better than individual model for most indices. Compared with observations, the models are able to capture the main features of the spatial distribution of extreme temperature during 1986-2005. Overall, the CMIP5 models are able to depict the observed indices well, and the spatial structure of the ensemble result is better for threshold indices than frequency indices. The spread amongst the CMIP5 models in different subregions for intensity indices is small and the median CMIP5 is close to observations; however, for the duration and frequency indices there can be wide disagreement regarding the change between models and observations in some regions. The model ensemble also performs well in reproducing the observational trend of temperature extremes. All absolute indices increase over China during 1961-2005.

Projections of changes in marine environment in coastal China seas over the 21^st century based on CMIP5 models

The increases of atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have caused fundamental changes to the physical and biogeochemical properties of the oceans,and it will continue to occur in the foreseeable future.Based on the outputs of nine Earth System Models from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP5),in this study,we provided a synoptic assessment of future changes in the sea surface temperature(SST),salinity,dissolved oxygen(DO),seawater pH,and marine net primary productivity(NPP)in the coastal China seas over the 21st century.The results show that the mid-high latitude areas of the coastal China seas(East China Seas(ECS),including the Bohai Sea,Yellow Sea,and East China Sea)will be simultaneously exposed to enhanced warming,deoxygenation,acidification,and decreasing NPP as a consequence of increasing greenhouse gas emissions.The magnitudes of the changes will increase as the greenhouse gas concentrations increase.Under the high emission scenario(Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5),the ECS will experience an SST increase of 3.24±1.23℃,a DO concentration decrease of 10.90±3.92μmol/L(decrease of 6.3%),a pH decline of 0.36±0.02,and a NPP reduction of-17.7±6.2 mg/(m2·d)(decrease of 12.9%)relative to the current levels(1980-2005)by the end of this century.The co-occurrence of these changes and their cascade effects are expected to induce considerable biological and ecological responses,thereby making the ECS among the most vulnerable ocean areas to future climate change.Despite high uncertainties,our results have important implications for regional marine assessments.

Asymmetry of Surface Climate Change under RCP2.6 Projections from the CMIP5 Models

The multi-model ensemble （MME） of 20 models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase Five （CMIP5） was used to analyze surface climate change in the 21st century under the representative con- centration pathway RCP2.6, to reflect emission mitigation efforts. The maximum increase of surface air temperature （SAT） is 1.86℃ relative to the pre-industrial level, achieving the target to limit the global warming to 2℃. Associated with the ＂increase-peak-decline＂ greenhouse gases （GHGs） concentration path- way of RCP2.6, the global mean SAT of MME shows opposite trends during two time periods： warming during 2006-55 and cooling during 2056-2100. Our results indicate that spatial distribution of the linear trend of SAT during the warming period exhibited asymmetrical features compared to that during the cool- ing period. The warming during 2006-55 is distributed globally, while the cooling during 2056-2100 mainly occurred in the NH, the South Indian Ocean, and the tropical South Atlantic Ocean. Different dominant roles of heat flux in the two time periods partly explain the asymmetry. During the warming period, the latent heat flux and shortwave radiation both play major roles in heating the surface air. During the cooling period, the increase of net longwave radiation partly explains the cooling in the tropics and subtropics, which is associated with the decrease of total cloud amount. The decrease of the shortwave radiation accounts for the prominent cooling in the high latitudes of the NH. The surface sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, and shortwave radiation collectively contribute to the especial warming phenomenon in the high-latitude of the SH during the cooling period.

Evaluating the Formation Mechanisms of the Equatorial Pacific SST Warming Pattern in CMIP5 Models

Based on the historical and RCP8.5 runs of the multi-model ensemble of 32 models participating in CMIP5, the present study evaluates the formation mechanisms for the patterns of changes in equatorial Pacific SST under global warming. Two features with complex formation processes, the zonal E1 Nifio-like pattern and the meridional equatorial peak warm- ing （EPW）, are investigated. The climatological evaporation is the main contributor to the E1 Nifio-like pattern, while the ocean dynamical thermostat effect plays a comparable negative role. The cloud-shortwave-radiation-SST feedback and the weakened Walker circulation play a small positive role in the E1 Nifio-like pattern. The processes associated with ocean dynamics are confined to the equator. The climatological evaporation is also the dominant contributor to the EPW pattern, as suggested in previous studies. However, the effects of some processes are inconsistent with previous studies. For example, changes in the zonal heat advection due to the weakened Walker circulation have a remarkable positive contribution to the EPW pattern, and changes in the shortwave radiation play a negative role in the EPW pattern.

An assessment of the CMIP5 models in simulating the Argo geostrophic meridional transport in the North Pacifi c Ocean

Eleven climate system models that participate in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5(CMIP5)were evaluated based on an assessment of their simulated meridional transports in comparison with the Sverdrup transports.The analyses show that the simulated North Pacifi c Ocean circulation is essentially in Sverdrup balance in most of the 11 models while the Argo geostrophic meridional transports indicate signifi cant non-Sverdrup gyre circulation in the tropical North Pacifi c Ocean.The climate models overestimated the observed tropical and subtropical volume transports signifi cantly.The non-Sverdrup gyre circulation leads to non-Sverdrup heat and salt transports,the absence of which in the CMIP5 simulations suggests defi ciencies of the CMIP5 model dynamics in simulating the realistic meridional volume,heat,and salt transports of the ocean.

Contributions of anthropogenic and external natural forcings to climate changes over China based on CMIP5 model simulations

Based on observations and historical simulations from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP5) archive, the contributions of human activities(including greenhouse gases(GHGs), anthropogenic aerosols(AAs), and land use(LU)) and external natural forcings(Nat) to climate changes in China over the past 50 years were quantified. Both anthropogenic and external natural forcings account for 95%–99% of the observed temperature change from 1951–1975 to 1981–2005. In particular, the temperature changes induced by GHGs are approximately 2–3 times stronger than the observed changes, and AAs impose a significant cooling effect. The total external forcings can explain 65%–78% of the observed precipitation changes over the past 50 years, in which AAs and GHGs are the primary external forcings leading to the precipitation changes; in particular, AAs dominate the main spatial features of precipitation changes in eastern China. Human activities also dominate the long-term non-linear trends in observed temperature during the past several decades, and, in particular, GHGs, the primary warming contributor, have produced significant warming since the 1960 s. Compared to the long-term non-linear trends in observed precipitation, GHGs have largely caused the wetting changes in the arid-semiarid region since the 1970 s, whereas AAs have led to the drying changes in the humid-semihumid region; both LU and Nat can impose certain impacts on the long-term non-linear trends in precipitation. Using the optimal fingerprinting detection approach, the effects of human activities on the temperature changes can be detected and attributed in China, and the effect of GHGs can be clearly detected from the observations in humid-semihumid areas. However, the anthropogenic effects cannot be detected in the observed precipitation changes, which may be due to the uncertainties in the model simulations and to other issues. Although some results in this paper still need improvement due to uncertainties in the coupled models, this study is expected to provide the background and scientific basis for climate changes to conduct vulnerability and risk assessments of the ecological systems and water resources in the arid-semiarid region of China.

Introduction of CMIP5 Experiments Carried out with the Climate System Models of Beijing Climate Center

The climate system models from Beijing Climate Center, BCC_CSM1.1 and BCC_CSM1.1-M, are used to carry out most of the CMIP5 experiments. This study gives a general introduction of these two models, and provides main information on the experiments including the experiment purpose, design, and the external forcings. The transient climate responses to the CO2 concentration increase at 1% per year are presented in the simulation of the two models. The BCC_CSM1.1-M result is closer to the CMIP5 multiple models ensemble. The two models perform well in simulating the historical evolution of the surface air temperature, globally and averaged for China. Both models overestimate the global warming and underestimate the warming over China in the 20th century. With higher horizontal resolution, the BCC_CSM1.1-M has a better capability in reproducing the annual evolution of surface air temperature over China.

Performance of CMIP5 Models in the Simulation of Climate Characteristics of Synoptic Patterns over East Asia

The evolution of daily synoptic weather patterns is the main driver of day-to-day weather change. These patterns are generally associated with changes in temperature, precipitation, etc., especially during extreme weathers. Evaluating the ability of climate models to reproduce the frequency and intensity of daily synoptic patterns is essential for increasing confidence in future projections. In this study, we investigated the ability of 34 global climate models （GCMs） included in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 （CMIP5） to simulate synoptic patterns over East Asia and their evolution features in winter and summer. Daily synoptic patterns in sea level pressure and their occurrence frequencies were identified by using an objective clustering algorithm, self-organizing maps （SOMs）. The evaluation consists of correlating the frequencies of these patterns in the 34 CMIP5 models with the frequencies in the NCEP reanalysis during the baseline period of 1980-1999. The results illustrated that most of these models were able to reproduce the synoptic patterns of the NCEP reanalysis. In addition, the frequencies of temporal sea level pressure （SLP） anomaly patterns were reproduced by most of the models over the baseline period, but the frequencies of spatial SLP anomaly patterns were only reproduced by a few GCMs. Overall, the models performed better in summer than in winter. Comprehensive evaluation shows that the four top-performing models for both winter and summer are bcc-csml-l-m, NorESM1-M, MRI-CGCM3, and CCSM4. They show good performance in simulating the daily synoptic patterns in SLP and in reproducing their occurrence frequencies. The results showed that the SOM was an effective tool for differentiating characteristics of synoptic circulation patterns and for evaluating the ability of climate models to simulate the frequency of daily synoptic patterns. The results can also help users to choose a better model for future climate projection and downscaling over East Asia.

Future Changes in the Impact of North Pacific Midlatitude Oceanic Frontal Intensity on the Wintertime Storm Track in CMIP5 Models

The storm track and oceanic front play an important role in the midlatitude air–sea interaction.In this study,future changes in the impact of the North Pacific midlatitude oceanic frontal intensity on the wintertime storm track are projected based on climate model outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5).The performance of 13 CMIP5 models is evaluated,and it is found that a majority of these models are capable of reproducing the northward intensification of the storm track in response to the strengthened oceanic front.The ensemble means of outputs from six best models under three Representative Concentration Pathway(RCP)scenarios(RCP2.6,RCP4.5,and RCP8.5)are compared with the results of the historical simulation,and future changes are projected.It is found that the impact of the oceanic frontal intensity on the storm track tends to get stronger and extends further westward in a warming climate,and the largest increase appears in the RCP8.5 run.Further analysis reveals that the stronger impact of the oceanic front on the storm track in the future may be partially attributed to the greater oceanic frontal impact on the near-surface baroclinicity,which is mainly related to the intensified oceanic frontal impact on the meridional potential temperature gradient under the climate change scenario.However,this process can hardly explain the increasing impact of the oceanic front on the upstream of the storm track.

Simulations of dissolved oxygen concentration in CMIP5 Earth system models

The climatologies of dissolved oxygen concentration in the ocean simulated by nine Earth system models(ESMs) from the historical emission driven experiment of CMIP5(Phase 5 of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project) are quantitatively evaluated by comparing the simulated oxygen to the WOA09 observation based on common statistical metrics. At the sea surface, distribution of dissolved oxygen is well simulated by all nine ESMs due to well-simulated sea surface temperature(SST), with both globally-averaged error and root mean square error(RMSE) close to zero, and both correlation coefficients and normalized standard deviation close to 1. However, the model performance differs from each other at the intermediate depth and deep ocean where important water masses exist. At the depth of 500 to 1 000 m where the oxygen minimum zones(OMZs) exist, all ESMs show a maximum of globally-averaged error and RMSE, and a minimum of the spatial correlation coefficient. In the ocean interior, the reason for model biases is complicated, and both the meridional overturning circulation(MOC) and the particulate organic carbon flux contribute to the biases of dissolved oxygen distribution. Analysis results show the physical bias contributes more. Simulation bias of important water masses such as North Atlantic Deep Water(NADW), Antarctic Bottom Water(AABW) and North Pacific Intermediate Water(NPIW) indicated by distributions of MOCs greatly affects the distributions of oxygen in north Atlantic, Southern Ocean and north Pacific, respectively.Although the model simulations of oxygen differ greatly from each other in the ocean interior, the multi-model mean shows a better agreement with the observation.

Evaluation of the performance of CMIP5 and CMIP6 models in simulating the South Pacific Quadrupole-ENSO relationship

The South Pacific Quadrupole(SPQ) is the extratropical South Pacific’s second principal sea surface temperature mode.Previous observational studies have shown that the SPQ promotes the onset of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation(ENSO).The present study evaluates and compares simulations of the SPQ-ENSO relationship by 20 climate models from CMIP6 and their corresponding 20 previous models from CMIP5.It is found that 16 of the20 pairs of models are able to consistently reproduce the spatial pattern of the SPQ.In terms of simulating the SPQ-ENSO relationship,9 of the 16 CMIP6 models show significant improvement over their previous CMIP5 models.The multi-model ensemble(MME) of these 16 CMIP6 models simulates the SPQ-ENSO connection more realistically than the CMIP5 MME.Further analysis shows that the performance of the model simulations in reproducing the SPQ-ENSO relationship is strongly dependent on their ability to simulate the SPQ-related surface air-sea coupling processes over the southwestern and southeastern South Pacific,as well as the response of the SPQ-related equatorial subsurface ocean temperature anomalies.The improvement of the CMIP6 models in simulating these two processes is responsible for the improved performance of the CMIP6 models over their CMIP5 counterparts in simulating the SPQ-ENSO relationship.

Future Changes in Drought Characteristics over Southern South America Projected by a CMIP5 Multi-Model Ensemble

The impact of climate change on drought main characteristics was assessed over Southern South America. This was done through the precipitation outputs from a multi-model ensemble of 15 climate models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The Standardized Precipitation Index was used as a drought indicator, given its temporal flexibility and simplicity. Changes in drought characteristics were identified by the difference for early (2011-2040) and late (2071-2100) 21st century values with respect to the 1979-2008 baseline. In order to evaluate the multi-model outputs, model biases were identified through a comparison with the drought characteristics from the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre database for the baseline period. Future climate projections under moderate and high-emission scenarios showed that the occurrence of short-term and long-term droughts will be more frequent in the 21st century, with shorter durations and greater severities over much of the study area. These changes in drought characteristics are independent on the scenario considered, since no significant differences were observed on drought changes. The future changes scenario might be even more dramatic, taking into account that in most of the region the multi-model ensemble tends to produce less number of droughts, with higher duration and lower severity. Therefore, drought contingency plans should take these results into account in order to alleviate future water shortages that can have significant economic losses in the agricultural and water resources sectors of Southern South America.

Evaluation of CMIP5 Climate Models in Simulating 1979–2005 Oceanic Latent Heat Flux over the Pacific

The climatological mean state, seasonal variation and long-term upward trend of 1979-2005 latent heat flux （LHF） in historical runs of 14 coupled general circulation models from CMIP5 （Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5） are evaluated against OAFlux （Objectively Analyzed air-sea Fluxes） data. Inter-model diversity of these models in simulating the annual mean climatological LHF is discussed. Results show that the models can capture the climatological LHF fairly well, but the amplitudes are generally overestimated. Model-simulated seasonal variations of LHF match well with observations with overestimated amplitudes. The possible origins of these biases are wind speed biases in the CMIP5 models. Inter-model diversity analysis shows that the overall stronger or weaker LHF over the tropical and subtropical Pacific region, and the meridional variability of LHF, are the two most notable diversities of the CMIP5 models. Regression analysis indicates that the inter-model diversity may come from the diversity of simulated SST and near-surface atmospheric specific humidity. Comparing the observed long-term upward trend, the trends of LHF and wind speed are largely underestimated, while trends of SST and air specific humidity are grossly overestimated, which may be the origins of the model biases in reproducing the trend of LHF.

Climate Sensitivity and Feedbacks of a New Coupled Model CAMS-CSM to Idealized CO_2 Forcing: A Comparison with CMIP5 Models

Climate sensitivity and feedbacks are basic and important metrics to a climate system. They determine how large surface air temperature will increase under CO_2 forcing ultimately, which is essential for carbon reduction policies to achieve a specific warming target. In this study, these metrics are analyzed in a climate system model newly developed by the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences(CAMS-CSM) and compared with multi-model results from the Coupled Model Comparison Project phase 5(CMIP5). Based on two idealized CO_2 forcing scenarios, i.e.,abruptly quadrupled CO_2 and CO_2 increasing 1% per year, the equilibrium climate sensitivity(ECS) and transient climate response(TCR) in CAMS-CSM are estimated to be about 2.27 and 1.88 K, respectively. The ECS is near the lower bound of CMIP5 models whereas the TCR is closer to the multi-model ensemble mean(MME) of CMIP5 due to compensation of a relatively low ocean heat uptake(OHU) efficiency. The low ECS is caused by an unusually negative climate feedback in CAMS-CSM, which is attributed to cloud shortwave feedback(λSWCL) over the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean.The CMIP5 ensemble shows that more negative λSWCL is related to larger increase in low-level(925–700 hPa)cloud over the tropical Indo-Pacific under warming, which can explain about 90% of λSWCL in CAMS-CSM. Static stability of planetary boundary layer in the pre-industrial simulation is a critical factor controlling the low-cloud response and λSWCL across the CMIP5 models and CAMS-CSM. Evidently, weak stability in CAMS-CSM favors lowcloud formation under warming due to increased low-level convergence and relative humidity, with the help of enhanced evaporation from the warming tropical Pacific. Consequently, cloud liquid water increases, amplifying cloud albedo, and eventually contributing to the unusually negative λSWCL and low ECS in CAMS-CSM. Moreover, the OHU may influence climate feedbacks and then the ECS by modulating regional sea surface temperature responses.

10个CMIP5模式预估中亚地区未来50a降水时空变化特征

利用CRU月降水资料首先对参与IPCC第五次评估报告(IPCC AR5)的10个CMIP5模式对1951-2005年中亚地区年降水气候平均态、年际变率以及线性趋势等特征参数的模拟能力进行了系统评估,并选取具有较好模拟性能模式的未来预估试验结果作多模式集合平均预估未来50 a(2011-2060年)中亚地区在不同代表性浓度路径下降水量各特征参数的空间分布特征,结果表明:多数模式能够模拟出中亚地区年降水气候平均态、年际变率以及线性趋势的空间分布特征,同时发现中亚地区年降水量在过去50 a整体以轻微增加为主,趋势不显著。根据定量评估结果,从10个模式中选取4个具有较好模拟性能的模式结果做集合平均,同时利用历史回报试验数据进行检验,发现集合平均的模拟结果无论在量级还是高、低值中心的位置和范围与CRU资料非常接近。未来预估结果表明4种排放情景下4模式集合平均的中亚年降水在未来50 a增加较为明显,尤其在中国新疆南部(由低值区转变为高值区)。总体来看,未来50 a中亚降水增加趋势随着RCPs的增加而增加,且降水增加显著的区域随着RCPs的增加而明显增大。