Assessment of future climate change over East Asia due to the RCP scenarios downscaled by GRIMs-RMP

This study assesses future climate change over East Asia using the Global/Regional Integrated Model system—Regional Model Program (RMP). The RMP is forced by two types of future climate scenarios produced by the Hadley Center Global Environmental Model version 2 (HG2); the representative concentration pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios for the intergovernmental panel on climate change fifth assessment report (AR5). Analyses for the current (1980–2005) climate are performed to evaluate the RMP’s ability to reproduce precipitation and temperature. Two different future (2006–2050) simulations are compared with the current climatology to investigate the climatic change over East Asia centered in Korea. The RMP satisfactorily reproduces the observed seasonal mean and variation of precipitation and temperature. The spatial distribution of the simulated large-scale features and precipitation by the RMP is generally less reflective of current climatic conditions than that is given by the HG2, but their inter-annual variations in East Asia are better captured by the RMP. Furthermore, the RMP shows higher reproducibility of climate extremes including excessive heat wave and precipitation events over South Korea. In the future, strong warming is distinctly coupled with intensified monsoonal precipitation over East Asia. In particular, extreme weather conditions are increased and intensified over South Korea as follows: (1) The frequency of heat wave events with temperature greater than 30 °C is projected to increase by 131 and 111 % in the RCP 8.5 and 4.5 downscaling, relative to the current climate. (2) The RCP 8.5 downscaling shows the frequency and variability of heavy rainfall to increase by 24 and 31.5 %, respectively, while the statistics given by the RCP 4.5 downscaling are similar to those of the current climate.     

Conditional stochastic simulation model for spatial downscaling for assessing the effects of climate change on hydro-meteorological variables

The current study examines the recently proposed “bias correction and stochastic analogues” (BCSA) statistical spatial downscaling technique and attempts to improve it by conditioning coarse resolution data when generating replicates. While the BCSA method reproduces the statistical features of the observed fine data, this existing model does not replicate the observed coarse spatial pattern, and subsequently, the cross-correlation between the observed coarse data and downscaled fine data with the model cannot be preserved. To address the dissimilarity between the BCSA downscaled data and observed fine data, a new statistical spatial downscaling method, “conditional stochastic simulation with bias correction” (BCCS), which employs the conditional multivariate distribution and principal component analysis, is proposed. Gridded observed climate data of mean daily precipitation (mm/day) covering a month at 1/8° for a fine resolution and at 1° for a coarse resolution over Florida for the current and future periods were used to verify and cross-validate the proposed technique. The observed coarse and fine data cover the 50-year period from 1950 to1999, and the future RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate scenarios cover the 100-year period from 2000 to 2099. The verification and cross-validation results show that the proposed BCCS downscaling method serves as an effective alternative means of downscaling monthly precipitation levels to assess climate change effects on hydrological variables. The RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 GCM scenarios are successfully downscaled.     

Dynamical Downscaling of Temperature and Precipitation Extremes in China under Current and Future Climates

Climate changes over China from the present (1996–2005) to the future (2046–2055) under Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 (RCP4.5) and Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenarios are projected using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, version 3.7.1. The WRF model was driven by the Global 6-Hourly Bias-corrected Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase 5 (CMIP5), Community Earth System Model dataset over China with a resolution of 30?km. The results demonstrate that WRF downscaling generally simulates more reliable spatial distributions of surface air temperature and precipitation in China with higher spatial pattern correlations and closer in magnitude to the Community Climate System Model, version 4.0, simulation results, especially near mountain ranges. The WRF projections for temperature and precipitation for the future under the two emission scenarios are compared with the present simulation. Generally stronger warming, both in mean temperature and extreme statistics, is produced by WRF-RCP8.5 than by WRF-RCP4.5. The projections for precipitation changes are more varied with season and region for both scenarios.     

Application of physical scaling towards downscaling climate model precipitation data

Physical scaling (SP) method downscales climate model data to local or regional scales taking into consideration physical characteristics of the area under analysis. In this study, multiple SP method based models are tested for their effectiveness towards downscaling North American regional reanalysis (NARR) daily precipitation data. Model performance is compared with two state-of-the-art downscaling methods: statistical downscaling model (SDSM) and generalized linear modeling (GLM). The downscaled precipitation is evaluated with reference to recorded precipitation at 57 gauging stations located within the study region. The spatial and temporal robustness of the downscaling methods is evaluated using seven precipitation based indices. Results indicate that SP method-based models perform best in downscaling precipitation followed by GLM, followed by the SDSM model. Best performing models are thereafter used to downscale future precipitations made by three global circulation models (GCMs) following two emission scenarios: representative concentration pathway (RCP) 2.6 and RCP 8.5 over the twenty-first century. The downscaled future precipitation projections indicate an increase in mean and maximum precipitation intensity as well as a decrease in the total number of dry days. Further an increase in the frequency of short (1-day), moderately long (2–4 day), and long (more than 5-day) precipitation events is projected.     

不同代表性浓度路径情景下2045-2050年中国气溶胶分布变化的分析

基于来自于CMIP5中CESM模式的三种RCP情景下的气象场的降尺度模拟,应用区域空气质量模式系统RAMS-CMAQ模拟2045-2050年中国地区气溶胶浓度.三种RCP情景下气象场的降尺度模拟表明,与RCP2.6相比,在RCP4.5和RCP8.5下,华北和华南的近地表温度差减小,风速在华北和华南地区增加,在中部地区下降.RCP2.6情景下,模拟的2045年到2050年平均的PM 2.5浓度在华北平原,长三角的部分地区和四川盆地最高,约为40-50μg m-3,在中国中部和珠三角的部分地区约为30-40 μg m-3.与RCP2.6相比,在RCP4.5和RCP8.5下,PM2.5增加了4-12μgm-3,其中在RCP4.5和RCP8.5下,SO42-和NH4+的浓度增加,在RCP4.5下,NO3-浓度降低,在RCP8.5下,NO3-浓度升高,在RCP4.5和RCP8.5下,BC浓度变化很小,而OC浓度下降,其中在RCP8.5下,西南和东南部分地区的OC有所增加.不同的气溶胶物种浓度在RCP4.5和RCP2.6之间的差异以及RCP8.5和RCP2.6之间的差异具有相似的年度变化,这表明气候变化对不同物种的影响趋于一致.     

Future changes in drought characteristics over South Korea using multi regional climate models with the standardized precipitation index

In this study, the projection of future drought conditions is estimated over South Korea based on the latest and most advanced sets of regional climate model simulations under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios, within the context of the national downscaling project of the Republic of Korea. The five Regional Climate Models (RCMs) are used to produce climate-change simulations around the Korean Peninsula and to estimate the uncertainty associated with these simulations. The horizontal resolution of each RCM is 12.5 km and model simulations are available for historical (1981-2010) and future (2021-2100) periods under forcing from the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. To assess the characteristics of drought on multiple time scales in the future, we use Standardized Precipitation Indices for 1-month (SPI- 1), 6-month (SPI-6) and 12-month (SPI-12). The number of drought months in the future is shown to be characterized by strong variability, with both increasing and decreasing trends among the scenarios. In particular, the number of drought months over South Korea is projected to increase (decrease) for the period 2041-2070 in the RCP8.5 (RCP4.5) scenario and increase (decrease) for the period 2071-2100 in the RCP4.5 (RCP8.5) scenario. In addition, the percentage area under any drought condition is overall projected to gradually decrease over South Korea during the entire future period, with the exception of SPI-1 in the RCP4.5 scenario. Particularly, the drought areas for SPI-1 in the RCP4.5 scenario show weakly positive long-term trend. Otherwise, future changes in drought areas for SPI-6 and SPI-12 have a marked downward trend under the two RCP scenarios.     

Robust intensification of hydroclimatic intensity over East Asia from multi-model ensemble regional projections

This study assesses the hydroclimatic response to global warming over East Asia from multi-model ensemble regional projections. Four different regional climate models (RCMs), namely, WRF, HadGEM3-RA, RegCM4, and GRIMs, are used for dynamical downscaling of the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 2–Atmosphere and Ocean (HadGEM2-AO) global projections forced by the representative concentration pathway (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios. Annual mean precipitation, hydroclimatic intensity index (HY-INT), and wet and dry extreme indices are analyzed to identify the robust behavior of hydroclimatic change in response to enhanced emission scenarios using high-resolution (12.5 km) and long-term (1981–2100) daily precipitation. Ensemble projections exhibit increased hydroclimatic intensity across the entire domain and under both the RCP scenarios. However, a geographical pattern with predominantly intensified HY-INT does not fully emerge in the mean precipitation change because HY-INT is tied to the changes in the precipitation characteristics rather than to those in the precipitation amount. All projections show an enhancement of high intensity precipitation and a reduction of weak intensity precipitation, which lead to a possible shift in hydroclimatic regime prone to an increase of both wet and dry extremes. In general, projections forced by the RCP8.5 scenario tend to produce a much stronger response than do those by the RCP4.5 scenario. However, the temperature increase under the RCP4.5 scenario is sufficiently large to induce significant changes in hydroclimatic intensity, despite the relatively uncertain change in mean precipitation. Likewise, the forced responses of HY-INT and the two extreme indices are more robust than that of mean precipitation, in terms of the statistical significance and model agreement.

     

Analysis of aerosol distribution variations over China for the period 2045–2050 under different Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios: 不同代表性浓度路径情景下 2045-2050 年中国气溶胶分布变化的分析

The regional air quality modeling system RAMS-CMAQ was applied to simulate the aerosol concentration for the period 2045–2050 over China based on the downscaled meteorological field of three RCP scenarios from CESM (NCAR's Community Earth System Model) in CMIP5. The downscaling simulation of the meteorological field of the three RCP scenarios showed that, compared with that under RCP2.6, the difference in near-surface temperature between North and South China is weakened and the wind speed increases over North and South China and decreases over central China under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Under RCP2.6, from 2045 to 2050, the modeled average PM_2.5 concentration is highest, with a value of 40–50 µg m⁻³, over the North China Plain, part of the Yangtze River Delta, and the Sichuan Basin. Meanwhile, it is 30–40 µg m⁻³ over central China and part of the Pearl River Delta. Compared with RCP2.6, PM_2.5 increases by 4–12 µg m⁻³ under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, of which the SO₄²⁻ and NH₄⁺ concentration increases under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5; the NO₃⁻ concentration decreases under RCP4.5 and increases under RCP8.5; and the black carbon concentration changes very slightly, and organic carbon concentration decreases, under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, with some increase over part of Southwest and Southeast China under RCP8.5. The difference between RCP4.5 and RCP2.6 and the difference between RCP8.5 and RCP2.6 have similar annual variation for different aerosol species, indicating that the impact of climate change on different species tends to be consistent.摘要基于来自于 CMIP5 中 CESM 模式的三种 RCP 情景下的气象场的降尺度模拟, 应用区域空气质量模式系统 RAMS-CMAQ 模拟 2045-2050 年中国地区气溶胶浓度.三种 RCP 情景下气象场的降尺度模拟表明, 与 RCP2.6 相比, 在 RCP4.5 和 RCP8.5 下, 华北和华南的近地表温度差减小, 风速在华北和华南地区增加, 在中部地区下降. RCP2.6 情景下, 模拟的 2045 年到 2050 年平均的 PM _2.5浓度在华北平原, 长三角的部分地区和四川盆地最高, 约为 40-50 µg m^–3, 在中国中部和珠三角的部分地区约为 30-40 µg m^–3. 与 RCP2.6 相比, 在 RCP4.5 和 RCP8.5 下, PM_2.5增加了 4-12 µg m^–3, 其中在 RCP4.5 和 RCP8.5 下, SO₄^2–和 NH₄⁺的浓度增加, 在 RCP4.5 下, NO^3–浓度降低, 在 RCP8.5 下, NO^3–浓度升高, 在 RCP4.5 和 RCP8.5 下, BC 浓度变化很小, 而 OC 浓度下降, 其中在 RCP8.5 下, 西南和东南部分地区的 OC 有所增加.不同的气溶胶物种浓度在 RCP4.5 和 RCP2.6 之间的差异以及 RCP8.5 和 RCP2.6 之间的差异具有相似的年度变化, 这表明气候变化对不同物种的影响趋于一致.     

Projected Climate Change in the Northwestern Arid Regions of China: An Ensemble of Regional Climate Model Simulations

The projected temperature and precipitationchange under different emissions scenarios using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 models over the northwestern arid regions of China(NWAC) were analyzed using the ensemble of three high-resolution dynamical downscaling simulations: the simulation of the Regional Climate Model version 4.0(Reg CM4) forced by the Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model version 1.1(BCC_CSM1.1); the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 3 regional climate model(Had GEM3-RA) forced by the Atmosphere-Ocean coupled Had GEM version 2(Had GEM2-AO); and the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF) model forced by the Norwegian community Earth System Model(Nor ESM1-M). Model validation indicated that the multimodel simulations reproduce the spatial and temporal distribution of temperature and precipitation well. The temperature is projected to increase over NWAC under both the 4.5 and 8.5 Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios(RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively) in the middle of the 21 st century, but the warming trend is larger under the RCP8.5 scenario. Precipitation shows a significant increasing trend in spring and winter under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5; but in summer, precipitation is projected to decrease in the Tarim Basin and Junggar Basin. The regional averaged temperature and precipitation show increasing trends in the future over NWAC; meanwhile, the large variability of the winter mean temperature and precipitation may induce more extreme cold events and intense snowfall events in these regions in the future.     

Analysis of the change in temperature trends in Subansiri River basin for RCP scenarios using CMIP5 datasets

This study focuses on changes in the maximum and minimum temperature over the Subansiri River basin for different climate change scenarios. For the study, dataset from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fifth assessment report (AR5) (i.e., coupled model intercomparison project phase five (CMIP5) dataset with representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios) were utilized. Long-term (2011–2100) maximum temperature (T _max) and minimum temperature (T_min) time series were generated using the statistical downscaling technique for low emission scenario (RCP2.6), moderate emission scenario (RCP6.0), and extreme emission scenario (RCP8.5). Trends and change of magnitude in T _max, T _min, and diurnal temperature range (DTR) were analyzed for different interdecadal time scales (2011–2100, 2011–2040, 2041–2070, 2070–2100) using Mann-Kendall non-parametric test and Sen’s slope estimator, respectively. The temperature data series for the observed duration (1981–2000) has been found to show increasing trends in T _max and T _min at both annual and monthly scale. Trend analysis of downscaled temperature for the period 2011–2100 shows increase in annual maximum temperature and annual minimum temperature for all the selected RCP scenarios; however, on the monthly scale, T _max and T _min have been seen to have decreasing trends in some months.

     

两种统计降尺度方法在秦岭山地的适用性

基于ASD（automated statistical downscaling）统计降尺度模型提供的多元线性回归和岭回归两种统计降尺度方法,采用RCP4.5（representative concentration pathways 4.5）和RCP8.5情景下全球气候模式MPI-ESM-LR输出的预报因子数据、NCEP/NCAR再分析数据和秦岭山地周边10个气象站观测数据,评估两种统计降尺度方法在秦岭山地的适用性及预估秦岭山地未来3个时期（2006-2040年、2041-2070年和2071-2100年）的平均气温和降水。结果表明:率定期和验证期内,两种统计降尺度方法均可以较好地模拟研究区域的平均气温和降水的变化特征,且多元线性回归的模拟效果优于岭回归。在未来气候情景下,两种统计降尺度方法预估的研究区域平均气温均呈明显上升趋势,气温增幅随辐射强迫增加而增大。降水方面,21世纪未来3个时期降水均呈不明显减少趋势,但季节分配发生变化。综合考虑两种统计降尺度方法在秦岭山地对平均气温和降水的模拟效果和情景预估结果,认为多元线性回归降尺度方法更适用于秦岭山地气候变化的降尺度预估研究。     

Projection of snow cover changes over China under RCP scenarios

Snow cover changes in the middle (2040–2059) and end (2080–2099) of the twenty-first century over China were investigated with a regional climate model, nested within the global model BCC_CSM1.1. The simulations had been conducted for the period of 1950–2099 under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Results show that the model perform well in representing contemporary (1986–2005) spatial distributions of snow cover days (SCDs) and snow water equivalent (SWE). However, some differences between observation and simulation were detected. Under the RCP4.5 scenarios, SCDs are shortened by 10–20 and 20–40 days during the middle and end of the twenty-first century, respectively. Whereas simulated SWE is lowered by 0.1–10 mm in most areas over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). On the other hand, the spatial distributions of SWE are reversed between the middle and end terms in the northeast China. Furthermore, compared with the changes of RCP4.5 scenario, SCDs are reduced by 5–20 days in the middle period under RCP8.5 scenario with even larger decreasing amplitude in the end term. SWE was lowered by 0.1–2.5 mm in most areas except the northeast of China in middle term under RCP8.5 scenario. The great center of SCDs and SWE changes are always located over TP. The regional mean of SCDs and SWE for the TP and for China display a declining trend from 2006 to 2099 with more pronounced changes in the TP than in China as a whole. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the changes are enhanced compared to those under RCP4.5.     

未来气候变化背景下我国橡胶树寒害事件的变化特征

利用1981—2010年历史气象数据和2031—2060年（RCP2.6和RCP8.5）气候情景数据,根据橡胶寒害等级指标,结合插值分析、提取分析和地图代数等空间分析方法,研究在未来气候情景下我国橡胶树寒害事件的变化特征。结果表明：(1) RCP2.6和RCP8.5气候情景下2031—2060年我国橡胶种植适宜区基本呈现寒害发生降低的趋势,其中次适宜区（III）和局部可植区（IV）的降低幅度较为明显,有向高一等级适宜区转化的趋势。(2)我国橡胶树寒害中心的纬度,由1981—2010年的22.5°~23.5°N向北移动至2031—2060年RCP2.6情景下的24.0°~24.5°N和RCP8.5情景下的23.5°~24.0°N。(3) 2种气候情景下,2031—2060年我国海南、广西、广东、福建等植胶区橡胶树寒害发生概率（较基准时段1981—2010年）主要呈现降低趋势,云南植胶区在2种气候情景下有明显的差异,表现为RCP2.6情景下,轻度和特重寒害呈现降低趋势,中度和重度寒害呈现增加趋势;RCP8.5情景下,轻度和重度寒害呈现降低趋势,中度和特重寒害呈现增加趋势。(4)对比2种气候情景较基准时段的变化情况,RCP2.6情景对橡胶树轻度和特重寒害影响较大,RCP8.5情景对橡胶树中度和重度寒害影响较大。     

Projected hydroclimate changes over Andean basins in central Chile from downscaled CMIP5 models under the low and high emission scenarios

This study examines the projections of hydroclimatic regimes and extremes over Andean basins in central Chile (～ 30–40° S) under a low and high emission scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, respectively). A gridded daily precipitation and temperature dataset based on observations is used to drive and validate the VIC macro-scale hydrological model in the region of interest. Historical and future simulations from 19 climate models participating in CMIP5 have been adjusted with the observational dataset and then used to make hydrological projections. By the end of the century, there is a large difference between the scenarios, with projected warming of ～ + 1.2 °C (RCP2.6), ～ +?3.5 °C (RCP8.5) and drying of ～ ? 3% (RCP2.6), ～ ? 30% (RCP8.5). Following the strong drying and warming projected in this region under the RCP8.5 scenario, the VIC model simulates decreases in annual runoff of about 40% by the end of the century. Such strong regional effect of climate change may have large implications for the water resources of this region. Even under the low emission scenario, the Andes snowpack is projected to decrease by 35–45% by mid-century. In more snowmelt-dominated areas, the projected hydrological changes under RCP8.5 go together with more loss in the snowpack (75–85%) and a temporal shift in the center timing of runoff to earlier dates (up to 5 weeks by the end of the century). The severity and frequency of extreme hydroclimatic events are also projected to increase in the future. The occurrence of extended droughts, such as the recently experienced mega-drought (2010–2015), increases from one to up to five events per 100 years under RCP8.5. Concurrently, probability density function of 3-day peak runoff indicates an increase in the frequency of flood events. The estimated return periods of 3-day peak runoff events depict more drastic changes and increase in the flood risk as higher recurrence intervals are considered by mid-century under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, and by the end of the century under RCP8.5.     

RegCM4对华北区域21世纪气候变化预估研究

利用国家气候中心完成的RegCM4区域气候模式在RCP4.5和RCP8.5两种排放路径下的气候变化动力降尺度试验结果,在检验模式对基准期(1986—2005年)气温和降水模拟能力基础上,进行华北区域21世纪气候变化预估分析。结果表明:RegCM4对华北区域基准期气温和降水的模拟能力较好。未来21世纪,两种情景下华北区域气温、降水、持续干期(consecutive dry days, CDD)和强降水量(R95p)变化逐渐增大,但变化幅度在高排放的RCP8.5情景下更为显著,其中近期(2021—2035年)、中期(2046—2065年)、远期(2080—2098年)RCP8.5情景下年平均气温分别升高1.77、3.44、5.82℃,年平均降水分别增加8.1%、14%、19.3%,CDD分别减少3、3、12 d, R95p分别增加30.8%、41.9%、69.8%。空间上,未来21世纪华北区域内年、冬季、夏季平均气温将一致升高,夏季升温幅度最大;年、冬季、夏季平均降水整体以增加为主,冬季降水增加幅度最大;CDD以减少为主,但近期和中期在山西和京津冀有所增加,而R95p以增加为主,表明21世纪华北区域干旱事件逐渐减少、极端降水事件不断增加。     

Identifying future climate change and drought detection using CanESM2 in the upper Siem Reap River,Cambodia

Cambodia is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts such as floods and droughts. Study of future climate change and drought conditions in the upper Siem Reap River catchment is vital because this river plays a crucial role in maintaining the Angkor Temple Complex and livelihood of the local population since 12th century. The resolution of climate data from Global Circulation Models (GCM) is too coarse to employ effectively at the watershed scale, and therefore downscaling of the dataset is required. Artificial neural network (ANN) and Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM) models were applied in this study to downscale precipitation and temperatures from three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios) from Global Climate Model data of the Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2) on a daily and monthly basis. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) were adopted to develop criteria for dry and wet conditions in the catchment. Trend detection of climate parameters and drought indices were assessed using the Mann-Kendall test. It was observed that the ANN and SDSM models performed well in downscaling monthly precipitation and temperature, as well as daily temperature, but not daily precipitation. Every scenario indicated that there would be significant warming and decreasing precipitation which contribute to mild drought. The results of this study provide valuable information for decision makers since climate change may potentially impact future water supply of the Angkor Temple Complex (a World Heritage Site).     

Interannual variability associated with ENSO: present and future climate projections of RegCM4 for South America-CORDEX domain

Interannual variability over South America (SA) is mainly controlled by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. This study investigates the ENSO precipitation signal during austral spring (September–October–November-SON) over SA. Three global circulation models-GCMs-(MPI, GFDL and HadGEM2) are used for RegCM4 (Regional Climate Model version 4) downscaling of the present (1975–2005) near-future (2020–2050) and far-future (2070–2098) climates using two greenhouse gas stabilization scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). For the present climate, only HadGEM2 simulates a frequency of El Niño (EN) and La Niña (LN) years similar to the observations. In terms of ENSO frequency changes, only in the far-future RCP8.5 climate there is greater agreement among GCMs, indicating an increase (decrease) of EN (LN) years. In the present climate, validation indicates that only the RegCM4 ensemble mean provides acceptable precipitation biases (smaller than ±20 %) in the two investigated regions. In this period, the GCMs and RegCM4 agree on the relationship between ENSO and precipitation in SA, i.e., both are able to capture the observed regions of positive/negative rainfall anomalies during EN years, with RegCM4 improving on the GCMs’ signal over southeastern SA. For the near and far future climates, in general, the projections indicate an increase (decrease) of precipitation over southeastern SA (northern-northeastern SA). However, the relationship between ENSO and rainfall in most of RegCM4 and GCM members is weaker in the near and far future climates than in the present day climate. This is likely connected with the GCMs’ projection of the more intense ENSO signal displaced to the central basin of Pacific Ocean in the far future compared to present climate.     

Impact of climate changes over the extratropical land on permafrost dynamics under RCP scenarios in the 21st century as simulated by the IAP RAS climate model

Estimates of possible climate changes and cryolithozone dynamics in the 21st century over the Northern Hemisphere land are obtained using the IAP RAS global climate model under the RCP scenarios. Annual mean warming over the northern extratropical land during the 21st century amounts to 1.2–5.3°C depending on the scenario. The area of the snow cover in February amounting currently to 46 million km² decreases to 33–42 million km² in the late 21st century. According to model estimates, the near-surface permafrost in the late 21st century persists in northern regions of West Siberia, in Transbaikalia, and Tibet even under the most aggressive RCP 8.5 scenario; under more moderate scenarios (RCP 6.0, RCP 4.5, and RCP 2.6), it remains in East Siberia and in some high-latitude regions of North America. The total near-surface permafrost area in the Northern Hemisphere in the current century decreases by 5.3–12.8 million km² depending on the scenario. The soil subsidence due to permafrost thawing in Central Siberia, Cisbaikalia, and North America can reach 0.5–0.8 m by the late 21st century.     

西南地区持续性气候事件的未来变化预估

利用RegCM4.0区域气候模式单向嵌套BCC_CSM1.1模式输出资料进行连续积分获得的模拟预估数据,对西南地区未来2025-2055年在两种温室气体排放情景下持续性干期和持续湿期事件的特征及其相对于历史基准期的变化进行了预估分析。结果表明,最长持续干期和湿期在RCP4.5和RCP8.5两种情景下的变化趋势不一致,RCP8.5情景下的最长湿期和持续湿期事件的发生频次相较RCP4.5并没有大幅增加,而是比RCP4.5情景具有更高的年际变率特征。相对于历史基准期,两种情景下的最长持续性气候事件的日数和发生频次在西南地区的东南部区域显著性增加,而在川西高原地区显著减少。对于持续干期发生的频次FCDD和最长持续湿期而言,四川中部以及四川、云南和贵州三省邻接处在RCP4.5情景下表现为显著增加的区域在RCP8.5情景下转变为显著减少。未来几十年西南地区持续性湿期和干期的分布特征可能更加趋于不均匀。     

Downscaling projections of climate change in Sao Tome and Principe Islands,Africa

Sao Tome and Principe is a small insular African country extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels and impacts such as inundation, shore line change, and salt water intrusion into underground aquifers. Projections of climate change have considered coarse model resolutions. The objective of this work is to dynamically downscale the global model projections to 4-km resolution and to assess the climate change in the Sao Tome and Principe islands. The global climate projections are provided by the Canadian Earth System Model under two Representative Concentration Pathways greenhouse gas scenarios, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The downscaling is produced by the Eta regional climate model. The baseline period is taken between 1971 and 2000, and the future climate period is taken between 2041 and 2070. The 2-m temperature simulations show good agreement with station data. The model simulates temperature more accurately than precipitation. The precipitation simulations systematically show underestimation and delay of the rainy and the dry seasons by about 1 month, a feature inherited from the global climate model. In the middle of the 21st century, projections show the strongest warming in the elevated parts of the Sao Tome Island, especially in February under RCP8.5. Warmer nights and warmer days become more frequent in the islands when compared with those in the present. While under RCP4.5, precipitation increases in the islands; under RCP8.5, it decreases everywhere in both islands. Heavy precipitation rates should increase, especially in the south-southwestern parts of the Sao Tome islands. Detailed spatial variability of the temperature and precipitation changes in the islands can only be revealed at very high spatial model resolution. Implications for the potential energy production from two major river basins are assessed in this work.