Changes in climatic variability and maize yield inNortheast China

The method linking general circulation models' (GCMs') outputs with crop growthsimulation models' inputs has been the first choice in the studies of impacts of climate change.Changes in climatic variability, however were not considered in most studies due to limitedknowledge concerned Changes in climatic means derived from a general circulation model DKRZOPYC were input into a stochastic weather generator WGEN run for synthetic daily climate scenarios.Monte Carlo stochastic sampling method was adopted to generate climate change scenarios withvarious possible climatic veriabilities. A dynamic simulation model for maize growth anddevelopment of MZMOD was used to assess the potenhal implication of the changes in both climaticmeans and variability nd the boacts of crop management in changing climate on maize productionin Northeast China. The results indicated that maize yield would be reduced to various degrees inmost of the sensitivity experiments of climatic variability associating with the shortening of theduration of phenological phase of different sowing dates. The Anpacts of the diverse distributions ofclimatic factors detetmined by multiple changes in climatic variability on maire production and itsvariation, however, are not identical and have distinct regional disparities. Yield reduction caused bychanges in climatic means may be alleviated or aggravated by didributions of certain climaticvariables in line with the corresponding climatic variability according to the sensitivity analyses.Consequently, the hypothesis keeping climatic variability constant in the traditional research imposesrestriction on the overall inveshgation of the impacts of climate change on maize production.

Analysis of Hydro-Climatical Variability in the Mo Basin in Togo

Climate changes are affecting water resources around the world and the Mo Basin (MB) in Togo is no exception to this observation. This study aims at analyzing the influence of hydro-climatical data in the Mo Basin. To achieve this, Pettit’s stationarity break tests, Hubert’s segmentation, Nicholson’s [1] reduced centered index, Lamb [2] and flow coefficients have been applied. In addition, temperature, precipitation, evapotranspiration, relative humidity and discharge data from 1961 to 2018 have been used for this purpose. While rainfall is decreasing despite an increase of 22.8% at the Fazao station and 2.8% at Sotouboua station, the flow coefficients evolve synchronously with the precipitation data and show a strong link between both parameters. The climatic balance sheet is positive six months in the year (May to October), throughout the period of observation (1961-2018). Only 1962 and 1963 recorded an annual rainfall greater than the annual evapotranspiration. The other years undergo a climatic drought, increasingly pronounced, which strongly impacts the hydrology of rivers. This has a strong impact on water resources and food security and resources of the Fazao-Malfakassa reserve in the region.

Agro-Climatic Risks Analysis in Climate Variability Context in Ségou Region

In the Sahel region, the population depends largely on rain-fed agriculture. In West Africa in particular, climate models turn out to be unable to capture some basic features of present-day climate variability. This study proposes a contribution to the analysis of the evolution of agro-climatic risks in the context of climate variability. Some statistical tests are used on the main variables of the rainy season to determine the trends and the variabilities described by the data series. Thus, the paper provides a statistical modeling of the different agro-climatic risks while the seasonal variability of agro-climatic parameters was analyzed as well as their inter annual variability. The study identifies the probability distributions of agroclimatic risks and the characterization of the rainy season was clarified.

Responses of Annual Variability of Vegetation NPP to Climate Variables Using Satellite Techniques in Gadarif State, Sudan

Plants play an essential role in matter and energy transformations and are key messengers in the carbon and energy cycle. Net primary productivity (NPP) reflects the capability of plants to transform solar energy into photosynthesis. It is very sensible for factors affecting on vegetation variability such as climate, soils, plant characteristics and human activities. So, it can be used as an indicator of actual and potential trend of vegetation. In this study we used the actual NPP which was derived from MODIS to assess the response of NPP to climate variables in Gadarif State, from 2000 to 2010. The correlations between NPP and climate variables (temperature and precipitation) are calculated using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient and ordinary least squares regression. The main results show the following 1) the correlation Coefficient between NPP and mean annual temperature is Somewhat negative for Feshaga, Rahd, Gadarif and Galabat areas and weakly negative in Faw area;2) the correlation Coefficient between NPP and annual total precipitation is weakly negative in Faw, Rahd and Galabat areas and somewhat negative in Galabat and Rahd areas. This study demonstrated that the correlation analysis between NPP and climate variables (precipitation and temperature) gives reliably result of NPP responses to climate variables that is clearly in a very large scale of study area.

Analysis of Extreme Temperature Variability in Rwanda

The temperature is one of the most important factors in weather and climate forecasting.Studying its behaviour is crucial to understanding climate variability,which could vary spatially and temporally at local,regional,and global scales.Several recent studies on air temperature findings show that the Earth’s near surface air temperature increased between 0.6℃ and 0.8℃ throughout the twentieth century.Using temperature records from ten meteorological stations,this study examined climate variability in Rwanda from the 1930s to 2014.The air temperature data were collected from Meteo Rwanda.Before making the analysis,the authors used software,such as Excel 2007 and INSTAT to control the quality of the raw data.The analysis of maxima and minima indicated that the trends of maximum air temperature were positive and significant at height meteorological stations,whereas the trends for minimum air temperature were found to be at 10 meteorological stations.For all parameters analysed,Kigali Airport meteorological station indicated the higher significance of the trends.The majority of meteorological stations showed an increase in both hot days and nights,confirming Rwanda’s warming over time.The analysis of average seasonal air temperature showed almost similar trends even though not all were significant.This similarity in trends could be attributed to the fact that Rwanda’s short and long dry seasons coincide with rainy seasons.

Variability and Variation Characteristics of Climate in Northern Winter Wheat Zone during 1961-2004

[Objective] The research aimed to study the variability and variation characteristics of climate in northern winter wheat zone during 1961-2004.[Method] Based on the meteorological data (temperature,precipitation and sunshine) of 55 meteorological stations in northern winter wheat zone during 1961-2004 and the yield data of winter wheat,by using the linear regression,correlated coefficient and climatic tendency rate,the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of agricultural climatic resources (sunshine hours,temperature and precipitation) in northern winter wheat zone were analyzed.[Result] The annual average temperature,precipitation and sunshine hours in northern winter wheat zone during 1961-2004 all presented certain zonal distribution in the space.The precipitation and temperature gradually decreased from south to north.The sunshine hours gradually increased from south to north.The annual average temperature overall presented rise trend in northern winter wheat zone in 44 years,but the rise rate had difference in the different areas.The rise of annual average temperature in the high-latitude zone was more obvious than that in the low-latitude zone.The annual rainfall overall presented decrease trend,and the tendency rate of annual precipitation had significant difference in the different areas.The decrease rates of rainfalls in the central and western areas were bigger than that in other areas.The annual sunshine hours overall presented decline trend.In most areas,the tendency rate of annual sunshine hours was negative.But there was certain difference in the different areas.The zones where the decrease amplitude was smaller scattered in the west,and included central Shaanxi,south of Shanxi and some areas in southeast of Shandong.The decrease amplitudes were bigger in south of Henan,northwest of Shandong and south of Hebei.[Conclusion] The research provided theoretical basis for understanding the historical evolution of climate in northern winter wheat zone.

An Overview of Dry-wet Climate Variability among Monsoon-Westerly Regions and the Monsoon Northernmost Marginal Active Zone in China

Climate in China's Mainland can be divided into the monsoon region in the southeast and the westerly region in the northwest as well as the intercross zone, i.e., the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone that is oriented from Southwest China to the upper Yellow River, North China, and Northeast China. In the three regions, dry-wet climate changes are directly linked to the interaction of the southerly monsoon flow on the east side of the Tibetan Plateau and the westerly flow on the north side of the Plateau from the inter-annual to inter-decadal timescales. Some basic features of climate variability in the three regions for the last half century and the historical hundreds of years are reviewed in this paper. In the last half century, an increasing trend of summer precipitation associated with the enhancing westerly flow is found in the westerly region from Xinjiang to northern parts of North China and Northeast China. On the other hand, an increasing trend of summer precipitation along the Yangtze River and a decreasing trend of summer precipitation along the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone are associated with the weakening monsoon flow in East Asia. Historical documents are widely distributed in the monsoon region for hundreds of years and natural climate proxies are constructed in the non-monsoon region, while two types of climate proxies can be commonly found over the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone. In the monsoon region, dry-wet variation centers are altered among North China, the lower Yangtze River, and South China from one century to another. Dry or wet anomalies are firstly observed along the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone and shifted southward or southeastward to the Yangtze River valley and South China in about a 70-year timescale. Severe drought events are experienced along the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone during the last 5 centuries. Inter-decadal dry-wet variations are depicted by natural proxies for the last 4-5 centuries in several areas over the non-monsoon region. Some questions, such as the impact of global warming on dry-wet regime changes in China, complex interactions between the monsoon and westerly flows in Northeast China, and the integrated multi-proxy analysis throughout all of China, are proposed.

Interannual Variability of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index on the Tibetan Plateau and Its Relationship with Climate Change

The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, or Tibetan Plateau, is a sensitive region for climate change, where the manifestation of global warming is particularly noticeable. The wide climate variability in this region significantly affects the local land ecosystem and could consequently lead to notable vegetation changes. In this paper, the interannual variations of the plateau vegetation are investigated using a 21-year normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） dataset to quantify the consequences of climate warming for the regional ecosystem and its interactions. The results show that vegetation coverage is best in the eastern and southern plateau regions and deteriorates toward the west and north. On the whole, vegetation activity demonstrates a gradual enhancement in an oscillatory manner during 1982-2002. The temporal variation also exhibits striking regional differences： an increasing trend is most apparent in the west, south, north and southeast, whereas a decreasing trend is present along the southern plateau boundary and in the central-east region. Covariance analysis between the NDVI and surface temperature/precipitation suggests that vegetation change is closely related to climate change. However, the controlling physical processes vary geographically. In the west and east, vegetation variability is found to be driven predominantly by temperature, with the impact of precipitation being of secondary importance. In the central plateau, however, temperature and precipitation factors are equally important in modulating the interannual vegetation variability.

Major Modes of Short-Term Climate Variability in the Newly Developed NUIST Earth System Model(NESM)

A coupled earth system model（ESM） has been developed at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology（NUIST） by using version 5.3 of the European Centre Hamburg Model（ECHAM）, version 3.4 of the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean（NEMO）, and version 4.1 of the Los Alamos sea ice model（CICE）. The model is referred to as NUIST ESM1（NESM1）. Comprehensive and quantitative metrics are used to assess the model＇s major modes of climate variability most relevant to subseasonal-to-interannual climate prediction. The model＇s assessment is placed in a multi-model framework. The model yields a realistic annual mean and annual cycle of equatorial SST, and a reasonably realistic precipitation climatology, but has difficulty in capturing the spring–fall asymmetry and monsoon precipitation domains. The ENSO mode is reproduced well with respect to its spatial structure, power spectrum, phase locking to the annual cycle, and spatial structures of the central Pacific（CP）-ENSO and eastern Pacific（EP）-ENSO; however, the equatorial SST variability,biennial component of ENSO, and the amplitude of CP-ENSO are overestimated. The model captures realistic intraseasonal variability patterns, the vertical-zonal structures of the first two leading predictable modes of Madden–Julian Oscillation（MJO）, and its eastward propagation; but the simulated MJO speed is significantly slower than observed. Compared with the T42 version, the high resolution version（T159） demonstrates improved simulation with respect to the climatology, interannual variance, monsoon–ENSO lead–lag correlation, spatial structures of the leading mode of the Asian–Australian monsoon rainfall variability, and the eastward propagation of the MJO.

Terrestrial water storage changes over the Pearl River Basin from GRACE and connections with Pacific climate variability

Time-variable gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment （GRACE） satellite mission are used to study terrestrial water storage （TWS） changes over the Pearl River Basin （PRB） for the period 2003-Nov. 2014. TWS estimates from GRACE generally show good agreement with those from two hydrological models GLDAS and WGHM. But they show different capability of detecting significant TWS changes over the PRB. Among them, WGHM is likely to underestimate the seasonal variability of TWS, while GRACE detects long- term water depletions over the upper PRB as was done by hydrological models, and observes significant water increases around the Longtan Reservoir （LTR） due to water impoundment. The heavy drought in 2011 caused by the persistent precipitation deficit has resulted in extreme low surface runoff and water level of the LTR. Moreover, large variability of summer and autumn precipitation may easily trigger floods and droughts in the rainy season in the PRB, especially for summer, as a high correlation of 0.89 was found between precipitation and surface runoff. Generally, the PRB TWS was negatively correlated with El Nifio-Southern Oscillation （ENSO） events. However, the modulation of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation （PDO） may impact this relationship, and the significant TWS anomaly was likely to occur in the peak of PDO phase as they agree well in both of the magnitude and timing of peaks. This indicates that GRACE-based TWS could be a valuable parameter for studying climatic in- fluences in the PRB.

Effect of Climate Variability and Human Activities on Runoff in the Jinghe River Basin, Northwest China

Much attention has recently been focused on the effects of climate variability and human activities on the runoff. In this study, we analyzed 56-yr(1957–2012) runoff change and patterns in the Jinghe River Basin(JRB) in the arid region of northwest China. The nonparametric Mann–Kendall test and the precipitation-runoff double cumulative curve(PRDCC) were used to identify change trend and abrupt change points in the annual runoff. It was found that the runoff in the JRB has periodically fluctuated in the past 56 yr. Abrupt change point in annual runoff was identified in the JRB, which occurred in the years around 1964 and 1996 dividing the long-term hydrologic series into a natural period(1957 – 1964) and a climate and man-induced period(1965 – 1996 and 1997 – 2012). In the 1965 – 1996 period, human activities were the main factor that decreased runoff with contribution of 88.9%, while climate variability only accounted for 11.1%. However,the impact of climate variability has been increased from 11.1% to 47.5% during 1997 – 2012, showing that runoff in JRB is more sensitive to climate variability during global warming. This study distinguishes theeffect of climate variability from human activities on runoff, which can do duty for a reference for regional water resources assessment and management.

Modeling Surgery: A New Way Toward Understanding Earth Climate Variability

A new modeling concept, referred to as Modeling Surgery, has been recently developed at University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is specifically designed to diagnose coupled feedbacks between different climate components as well as climatic teleconnections within a specific component through systematically modifying the coupling configurations and teleconnective pathways. It thus provides a powerful means for identifying the causes and mechanisms of low-frequency variability in the Earth's climate system. In this paper, we will give a short review of our recent progress in this new area.

Recent Advances in Understanding Multi-scale Climate Variability of the Asian Monsoon

Studies of the multi-scale climate variability of the Asian monsoon are essential to an advanced understanding of the physical processes of the global climate system.In this paper,the progress achieved in this field is systematically reviewed,with a focus on the past several years.The achievements are summarized into the following topics:(1)the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon;(2)the East Asian summer monsoon;(3)the East Asian winter monsoon;and(4)the Indian summer monsoon.Specifically,new results are highlighted,including the advanced or delayed local monsoon onset tending to be synchronized over the Arabian Sea,Bay of Bengal,Indochina Peninsula,and South China Sea;the basic features of the record-breaking mei-yu in 2020,which have been extensively investigated with an emphasis on the role of multi-scale processes;the recovery of the East Asian winter monsoon intensity after the early 2000s in the presence of continuing greenhouse gas emissions,which is believed to have been dominated by internal climate variability(mostly the Arctic Oscillation);and the accelerated warming over South Asia,which exceeded the tropical Indian Ocean warming,is considered to be the main driver of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall recovery since 1999.A brief summary is provided in the final section along with some further discussion on future research directions regarding our understanding of the Asian monsoon variability.

Impacts of climatic and marine environmental variations on the spatial distribution of Ommastrephes bartramii in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

Ommastrephes bartramii is an ecologically dependent species and has great commercial values among the AsiaPacific countries. This squid widely inhabits the North Pacific, one of the most dynamic marine environments in the world, subjecting to multi-scale climatic events such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation（PDO）. Commercial fishery data from the Chinese squid-jigging fleets during 1995-2011 are used to evaluate the influences of climatic and oceanic environmental variations on the spatial distribution of O. bartramii. Significant interannual and seasonal variability are observed in the longitudinal and latitudinal gravity centers（LONG and LATG） of fishing ground of O. bartramii. The LATG mainly occurred in the waters with the suitable ranges of environmental variables estimated by the generalized additive model. The apparent north-south spatial shift in the annual LATG appeares to be associated with the PDO phenomenon and is closely related to the sea surface temperature（SST）and sea surface height（SSH） on the fishing ground, whereas the mixed layer depth（MLD） might contribute limited impacts to the distribution pattern of O. bartramii. The warm PDO regimes tend to yield cold SST and low SSH, resulting in a southward shift of LATG, while the cold PDO phases provid warm SST and elevated SSH,resulting in a northward shift of LATG. A regression model is developed to help understand and predict the fishing ground distributions of O. bartramii and improve the fishery management.

The climate variability in global land precipitation in FGOALS-f3-L:A comparison between GMMIP and historical simulations

The climate variability in global land precipitation is important for the global hydrological cycle.Based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6(CMIP6)historical experiments and the Global Monsoons Model Intercomparison Project(GMMIP)Tier-1 experiments,the spatialtemporal characteristics of global and regional land precipitation long-term climate changes in CAS FGOALS-f3-L are evaluated in this study.By comparing these two kinds of experiments,the precipitation biases related to the SSTs are also discussed.The results show that the two experiments could capture the precipitation trend and amplitude to a certain degree compared with observations.The GMMIP simulations show a higher skill than the historical runs verified by correlation coefficients partly because the observed monthly mean SST was prescribed.For the Northern Hemisphere,GMMIP can reproduce the trend and variability in global precipitation,while historical simulations cannot reproduce the trend and variability.However,both experiments fail to simulate the amplitude of the southern hemisphere summer precipitation anomalies.Ensemble empirical mode decomposition(EEMD)was applied to compare the simulated precipitation on different time scales.The sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA)bias,especially the La Ni?a-type SSTA,is the dominant source of the model bias for simulating interannual precipitation anomalies.The authors also emphasize that the response of precipitation anomalies to the ENSO effect varies regionally.This study highlights the importance of the multiannual variability in SSTAs in global and hemispheric precipitation simulations.The ways to improve the simulation of global precipitation for CAS FGOALS-f3-L are also discussed.

The impact of climatic variables on the population dynamics of the main malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi Liston(Diptera: Culicidae), in southern Iran

Objective:To determine the significance of temperature,rainfall and humidity in the seasonal abundance of Anopheles stephensi in southern Iran.Methods:Data on the monthly abundance of Anopheles stephensi larvae and adults were gathered from earlier studies conducted between 2002 and 2019 in malaria prone areas of southeastern Iran.Climatic data for the studied counties were obtained from climatology stations.Generalized estimating equations method was used for cluster correlation of data for each study site in different years.Results:A significant relationship was found between monthly density of adult and larvae of Anopheles stephensi and precipitation,max temperature and mean temperature,both with simple and multiple generalized estimating equations analysis(P<0.05).But when analysis was done with one month lag,only relationship between monthly density of adults and larvae of Anopheles stephensi and max temperature was significant(P<0.05).Conclusions:This study provides a basis for developing multivariate time series models,which can be used to develop improved appropriate epidemic prediction systems for these areas.Long-term entomological study in the studied sites by expert teams is recommended to compare the abundance of malaria vectors in the different areas and their association with climatic variables.

The Interannual Variability of Climate in a Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model

In this paper, the interannual variability simulated by the coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation modelof the institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP CGCM) in 40 year integrations is analyzed, and compared with that bythe corresponding IAP AGCM which uses the climatic sea surface temperature as the boundary condition in 25 yearintegrations.The mean climatic states of January and July simulated by IAP CGCM are in good agreement with that by IAPAGCM, i.e., no serious 'climate drift' occurs in the CGCM simulation. A comparison of the results from AGCM andCGCM indicates that the standard deviation of the monthly averaged sea level pressure simulated by IAP CGCM ismuch greater than that by IAP AGCM in tropical region. In addition, both Southern Oscillation (SO) and NorthAtlantic Oscillation (NAO) can be found in the CGCM simulation for January, but these two oscillations do not existin the AGCM simulation.The interannual variability of climate may be classified into two typest one is the variation of the annual mean,another is the variation of the annual amplitude. The ocean-atmosphere interaction mainly increases the first type ofvariability. By means of the rotated EOF, the most important patterns corresponding to the two types of interannualvariability are found to have different spatial and temporal characteristics.

Impact of Climate Variability on Water Resources: The Case of Marc Delorme-Cnra Station, Southeast of Ivory Coast

This study aims to characterize the climatic variability in the South-East of Ivory Coast and to show its impact on the supply of water resources. To do this, statistical and hydrological methods were applied to climatic data collected at the Marc DELORME Research Station of the CNRA. The statistical trend tests on this data revealed a significant decrease in precipitation and an increase in temperature, insolation and evaporation. Statistical break methods indicate a rainfall break in 1982 which marks a modification of the rainfall regime thus translating a drop in rainfall of 15%, a recession in the frequency of rainy days in general and in particular in rainfall heights between 10 and 30 mm and greater than 50 mm. This break is accompanied by a shortening of the rainy seasons, with average rainfall durations ranging from 54 days (short rainy season) to 104 days (great rainy season). Despite the disturbances in the different seasons of the year, the monthly rainfall regimes in the area have not changed. The assessment of the effects of drought on water resources using the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) for three-time scales (1 month, 3 months and 12 months) indicates a severe drought ranging from 3% to 7% over the period 1961 to 2018. However, despite the presence of this severe drought, the intensity of the drought was found to be moderate on all time scales. The Thorrnthwaite method was used to highlight the impacts of this climatic variability on the region’s water resources. The average annual recharge estimated at 402 mm, has been reduced to 153 mm during a deficit period, a decrease of about 62%. The average annual runoff, which was 294 mm, fells to 257 mm, a decrease of about 13%. This recorded decrease in the water infiltrated after the rainfall break (1983-2018), explains the heterogeneous decrease in the depth of the water table.

Application of Livelihood Vulnerability Index to Assess Risks from Flood Vulnerability and Climate VariabilitymA Case Study in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

An Giang province in the Mekong Delta is the most vulnerable province the impact of flooding and climate variability. Thousand of households are at risk due to severe annual floods. This study applied the LVI （livelihood vulnerability index） to estimate flood vulnerability of Phu Huu and Ta Danh villages in An Giang province. Data on socio-demographics, livelihoods, health, social networks, physical, financial and natural resources, natural disasters and climate variability were collected from a survey of 120 households in each village. From these data the LVI of each village was calculated. Results show that the overall LV1 of Phu Huu village, located in the early flooded zone, is higher than that of Ta Danh village, located in the late flooded zone. The analysis also indicated that this practical method can be applied for other purposes such as to monitor vulnerability, evaluate development programs or policy effectiveness by incorporating with scenario comparison.

Interannual Climate Variability Change during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age in PMIP3 Last Millennium Simulations

In this study, we analyzed numerical experiments undertaken by 10 climate models participating in PMIP3（Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 3） to examine the changes in interannual temperature variability and coefficient of variation（CV） of interannual precipitation in the warm period of the Medieval Climate Anomaly（MCA） and the cold period of the Little Ice Age（LIA）. With respect to the past millennium period, the MCA temperature variability decreases by 2.0% on average over the globe, and most of the decreases occur in low latitudes. In the LIA, temperature variability increases by a global average of 0.6%, which occurs primarily in the high latitudes of Eurasia and the western Pacific. For the CV of interannual precipitation, regional-scale changes are more significant than changes at the global scale, with a pattern of increased（decreased） CV in the midlatitudes of Eurasia and the northwestern Pacific in the MCA（LIA）. The CV change ranges from-7.0% to 4.3%（from -6.3% to 5.4%）, with a global average of -0.5%（-0.07%） in the MCA（LIA）.Also, the variability changes are considerably larger in December–January–February with respect to both temperature and precipitation.