Variability and trends of near-surface wind speed over the Tibetan Plateau:The role played by the westerly and Asian monsoon

Near-surface wind speed exerts profound impacts on many environmental issues,while the long-term(≥60 years)trend and multidecadal variability in the wind speed and its underlying causes in global high-elevation and mountainous areas(e.g.,Tibetan Plateau)remain largely unknown.Here,by examining homogenized wind speed data from 104 meteorological stations over the Tibetan Plateau for 1961-2020 and ERA5 reanalysis datasets,we investigated the variability and long-term trend in the near-surface wind speed and revealed the role played by the westerly and Asian monsoon.The results show that the homogenized annual wind speed displays a decreasing trend(-0.091 m s^(−1)per decade,p<0.05),with the strongest in spring(-0.131 m s^(−1)per decade,p<0.05),and the weakest in autumn(-0.071 m s^(−1)per decade,p<0.05).There is a distinct multidecadal variability of wind speed,which manifested in an prominent increase in 1961-1970,a sustained decrease in 1970-2002,and a consistent increase in 2002-2020.The observed decadal variations are likely linked to large-scale atmospheric circulation,and the correlation analysis unveiled a more important role of westerly and East Asian winter monsoon in modulating near-surface wind changes over the Tibetan Plateau.The potential physical processes associated with westerly and Asian monsoon changes are in concordance with wind speed change,in terms of overall weakened horizontal air flow(i.e.,geostrophic wind speed),declined vertical thermal and dynamic momentum transfer(i.e.,atmospheric stratification thermal instability and vertical wind shear),and varied Tibetan Plateau vortices.This indicates that to varying degrees these processes may have contributed to the changes in near-surface wind speed over the Tibetan Plateau.This study has implications for wind power production and soil wind erosion prevention in the Tibetan Plateau.

An update on the influence of natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change on tropical cyclones

A substantial number of studies have been published since the Ninth International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones(IWTC-9)in 2018,improving our understanding of the effect of climate change on tropical cyclones(TCs)and associated hazards and risks.These studies have reinforced the robustness of increases in TC intensity and associated TC hazards and risks due to anthropogenic climate change.New modeling and observational studies suggested the potential influence of anthropogenic climate forcings,including greenhouse gases and aerosols,on global and regional TC activity at the decadal and century time scales.However,there are still substantial uncertainties owing to model uncertainty in simulating historical TC decadal variability in the Atlantic,and the limitations of observed TC records.The projected future change in the global number of TCs has become more uncertain since IWTC-9 due to projected increases in TC frequency by a few climate models.A new paradigm,TC seeds,has been proposed,and there is currently a debate on whether seeds can help explain the physical mechanism behind the projected changes in global TC frequency.New studies also highlighted the importance of large-scale environmental fields on TC activity,such as snow cover and air-sea interactions.Future projections on TC translation speed and medicanes are new additional focus topics in our report.Recommendations and future research are proposed relevant to the remaining scientific questions and assisting policymakers.