Far Reach of the Tenth Century Eldgjá Eruption, Iceland

At the end of Iceland's settlement period in the 10th century, a great basalt fissure eruption known as Eldgjá (Fire Chasm) occurred near the southern settlements and destroyed a portion of them. This lava outpouring was one of the two largest terrestrial fissure eruptions of the last 11 centuries. Historical documents from Iceland, western Europe, and the Middle East are used to trace the eruption's possible climatic and demographic consequences. The cloud of aerosols from the eruption, traversing northern Europe, dimmed and reddened the Sun. There followed a very cold winter, famine, and a widespread disease epidemic during the next year and, again, 5 to 7 years after the eruption, probably as a result of the long-lived stratospheric aerosol veil. Convergent lines of evidence point to 934 as the year of the eruption. Accordingly, it becomes possible to date within a year a prominent acid horizon in ice laid down in central Greenland and, tentatively, to interpret some critical events and dates in early Icelandic history.     

2011～2012年冬季欧亚大陆低温严寒事件与平流层北极涛动异常下传的影响

利用NCEP-NCAR 再分析资料分析了2011～2012 年冬季发生在欧亚大陆的一次异常低温严寒事件的大气环流演变过程以及可能的成因。这次低温事件,主要出现在2012 年1 月下旬至2 月上旬,持续大约3 周左右,非常强的低温异常覆盖了几乎整个欧洲以及东亚的西伯利亚、蒙古国和我国东北、华北等地。这次低温事件的演变与对流层北极涛动(AO)由正位相转变为负位相的时间相匹配,意味着AO 可能发挥重要作用。进一步分析表明,前期行星波的异常上传导致平流层发生爆发性增温现象,极夜急流减弱,AO 位相首先在平流层由正变负;在2～3 周左右的时间内,平流层AO 异常信号逐渐下传,使得对流层AO 也转为负位相;随后,乌拉尔山阻塞高压异常发展,极区的冷空气不断向南爆发,先后在东亚和欧洲造成剧烈的降温,导致低温严寒事件。因此,考虑平流层环流的异常可能有助于提高欧亚大陆冬季低温严寒事件的预测能力。     

Spatial Response to Major Volcanic Events in or about AD 536, 934 and 1258: Frost Rings and Other Dendrochronological Evidence from Mongolia and Northern Siberia: Comment on R. B. Stothers, ‘Volcanic Dry Fogs, Climate Cooling, and Plague Pandemics in Europe and the Middle East’ (Climatic Change, 42, 1999)

Hypothesized large-scale climatic extremes require verification from distantregions in order toconfirm the magnitude and timing of such events. Three of the most massivehypothesized volcanic events of the past two millennia, occurring in or aboutAD 536, 934 and1258, had profound climatic and demographic repercussions over much of Europe,the MiddleEast, and other areas, according to historical accounts recently described inStothers (1998, 1999,2000) as well as other research. Here we report on frost ring and otherdendrochronologicalevidence derived from a 1738-year tree-ring chronology from Mongolia andmillennial-scaletree-ring data from northern Siberia which demonstrate that these three eventsmay have alsoimpacted conditions in these distant regions.     

Extremely low temperatures in the stratosphore and very low total ozone amount above northern and central Europe during winter 1989

On 1 February 1989, -83.5°C was recorded in 27.8 hPa over Hohenpeißenberg, the lowest temperature in the 22-year series. This was measured together with a very low total ozone amount of 266 DU. This may be compared with nearly twice this amount on 27 February 1989. The situation was very unusual: following an extremely cold winter in the Arctic stratosphere, the stratospheric cold pole was located over southern Scandinavia on 1 February in a very southerly position. The analyzed temperatures of -92 °C in 30 hPa were also unusual. Even though the low ozone amounts over Hohenpeißenberg were probably dynamically caused, an additional very small ozone decrease due to heterogeneous reactions in altitudes from 23–28 km, where the temperatures lie below -80 °C, cannot be ruled out. Extinction measurements by the orbitting SAGE II instrument indeed show polar stratospheric clouds over Europe near 50° N during the period 31 January–2 February. Also, polar stratospheric clouds were previously observed over Kiruna at similarly low temperatures and signs of a corresponding small ozone decrease were noted there.     

On the Connection between Upper Atmospheric Dynamics and Tropospheric Parameters: Correlations between Mesopause Region Winds and the North Atlantic Oscillation

The middle- and high-latitude stratospheric and mesospheric wind field in winter is dominated by the stratospheric polar vortex, which reaches up into the mesopause region and leads to westerly winds there in winter. The tropospheric mean winter wind field is also connected with the stratospheric polar vortex, which thus can be considered as extending from the lower up to the upper atmosphere. We found that the January and February zonal winds of the mesopause region, as measured at the Collm Observatory of the University of Leipzig, are closely connected with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) which can be considered as a measure for part of the northern hemispheric mean circulation in the Atlantic and Europe domain, since it influences the circulation over that domain. The NAO itself is considered to be a measure for Central Europe winter winds and temperatures, since large NAO indices are connected with stronger westerlies in Central Europe. Thus, the mesopause region winds are also positively correlated to the Central European winter surface temperatures.     

The climatic effects of the stratospheric volcanic ash

The climatic effects of the stratospheric volcanic ash are simulated. The model we used is a primitive equation model with the P-σ incorporated coordinate system. The model has 5 layers in the atmosphere and 2 layers in the soil. The volcanic ash is introduced to the first (highest) model layer with a fixed optical thickness of 0.1275. Two comparative numerical experiments with and without the volcanic ash are made. Results show that the effects of the stratospheric volcanic ash on the formations of the mean climatic fields are much smaller than those of the land-sea distribution and the large scale topography. However, it does have contributions to the anomalies of the basic climatic states. The direct effect of the volcanic ash is to increase the temperature in the stratosphere. It can also influence the temperature and the height fields of isobaric surfaces, horizontal and vertical motions, precipitation and the surface climate through dynamic and thermodynamic processes in the atmosphere.     

亚洲东部冬季地面温度变化与平流层弱极涡的关系

利用NCEP资料计算NAM指数和标准化温度距平,对17次平流层弱极涡事件时亚洲东部温度变化进行了研究。结果表明:平流层环流异常比对流层温度变化超前约15天,地面温度变化的最大距平出现在平流层弱极涡后期,大约以40°N为界,北部比正常年份偏冷而南部偏暖。文中通过位势涡度的分布和变化以及500 hPa东亚大槽的变化讨论了其影响过程和机理,在弱极涡初期和中期,自平流层向下,高位涡冷空气主要局限于60°N以北。从弱极涡的后期开始,在45°N以北地区,高位涡冷空气向南扩张,在对流层中上层,极地附近的高位涡冷空气扩张到45°N附近。同时,500 hPa东亚大槽虽有加强,但低压区向东延伸,而贝加尔湖附近的高压脊显著减弱,致使槽后的偏北气流减弱,槽后冷空气主要影响中国华北、东北及其以北地区,造成这些地区偏冷。而40°N以南地区,从弱极涡的后期开始有南方低位涡偏暖空气向北运动,同时冷空气活动减少,地面显著偏暖。     

Unusual Climate in Northwest Europe During the Period 1730 to 1745 Based on Instrumental and Documentary Data

This study focuses on one of the most interesting times of the early instrumental period in northwest Europe (from 1730–1745) attempting to place the extremely cold year of 1740 and the unusual warmth of the 1730s decade in a longer context. The similarity of the features in the few long (and independent) instrumental records together with extensive documentary evidence clearly indicates that remarkable climatic changes occurred rapidly in this period. We use unpublished subjective circulation charts developed by the late Hubert Lamb, to assist in understanding the course of events, particularly during the extreme year of 1740 and the four subsequent years. We also compare these subjective charts with others recently developed using more objective modern reconstruction techniques. Apart from evidence of a reduction in the number of explosive volcanic eruptions following the 1690s, it is difficult to explain the changes in terms of our knowledge of the possible factors that have influenced this region during the 19th and 20th centuries. The study, therefore, highlights how estimates of natural climatic variability in this region based on more recent data may not fully encompass the possible known range.     

Circulation conditions of the abnormally cold winter of 2005/06 over Siberia

Circulation conditions of the abnormally cold winter of 2005/06 in Eurasia, where the intensification of meridional flow was accompanied by frequent intrusions of cold air masses into midlatitudes and their subsidence in the lower troposphere, are studied. The development of deep upper-level cyclones over Siberia and the Urals was preceded by stratospheric warming and long-term blocking processes in the troposphere over Europe and Yakutia. Strong cyclonic wind shears and intensified jet streams were observed in the high-level convergence zone over Siberia. Generally the weakened westerly flow in the substantial atmosphere thickness, a reduced number of deep cyclones in the western Arctic sector, and stratospheric warming provide high predictability of short-term climate changes in Eurasia in the wintertime.     

极地和赤道热状况异常与我国及湖北省严寒关系的分析

本文对1952-1986年期间我国几次特大严寒的环流背景及发生规律作了分析和探讨,认为:严寒是一个大范围的天气现象,严重严寒往往涉及全国甚至欧亚范围,严寒的发生与大气环境的异常分布有关,导致严寒发生的前期因子是极地和赤道大范围热状况异常.     

北半球平流层大气环流转型的基本气候特征

利用1948—2009年NCEP/NCAR逐日高度场和风场再分析资料探讨了平流层各主要层次上环流转型的年际、年代际时空演变特征。结果表明:北半球平流层冬季环流转为夏季环流的过程是高层环流转型早,低层环流转型晚,但在各层次上环流转型早晚存在着区域性差异。自新地岛到西伯利亚北部地区的环流转型最早,且该区域与北半球环流平均转型时间的年际以及年代际特征最相近。北半球平流层环流转型的气候平均时间早于东亚热带季风爆发时间,从而可能成为季风预测的前兆信号。分析还得到平流层各主要层次环流转型时间具有明显的年代际特征,环流转型时间呈现由偏晚到偏早、又从偏早到偏晚的变化特征,只是年代际转折年份在不同区域、不同层次存在差异。此外,平流层环流转型时间普遍存在准2年、准3~6年、准9~12年以及准21~24年的周期,可能与气候系统其他成员有密切联系。     

Climatic aftermath of the 1815 Tambora eruption in China

The 1815 eruption of the Tambora volcano led to the “Year without a Summer” and caused serious crop failure and famines in 1816 across Europe and North America. However, few reports are available on Tambora’s influence in China despite the region’s susceptibility to monsoonal volcanic perturbation. This study presents a systemic analysis of the climatic and related social responses to the Tambora perturbation in China, by using two independent lines of proxy records and projecting the responses on top of the impacts averaged over all tropical eruptions of the past millennium. Both the tree ring and Chinese documentary proxies show that Tambora induced a cold excursion, which caused severe frost damage, snow and ice accumulations that are uncommonly seen in southern China. Cold temperature tends to cause drought by suppressing evaporation and monsoonal circulation—a hydroclimate response that is evident in the tree-ring-based Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas but largely missing in a multiproxy precipitation reconstruction. Historical records of drought, flood, frost, and famine also show fairly mild responses outside southern China, which may be partially due to the insensitivity of documentary records to the Tambora-induced perturbation, or the cold background climate set up by the low solar insolation of the coincident Dalton Minimum and a preceding unknown eruption in 1809. The results presented here provide new insights into the spatial extent and characteristics of the Tambora perturbation, by providing a systematic evaluation of the climatic aftermath in China in parallel to that in Europe and North America. They also argue for the integral use of multiple proxies from different regions of the world to gain a better understanding of the climatic impacts for individual volcanic eruptions.     

Decadal variation of the Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode and its influence on the East Asian trough

We analyze the decadal variation of the stratosphere troposphere coupled system around the year 2000 by using the NCEP reanalysis-2 data.Specifically,the relationship between the Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode(NAM) and the tropospheric East Asian trough is investigated in order to find the effective stratospheric signals during cold air outbreaks in China.Statistical analyses and dynamic diagnoses both indicate that after 2000,increased stratospheric polar vortex disturbances occur and the NAM is mainly in negative phase.The tropospheric polar areas are directly affected by the polar vortex,and in the midlatitudes,the Ural blocking high and East Asian trough are more active,which lead to enhanced cold air activities in eastern and northern China.Further investigation reveals that under this circulation pattern,downward propagations of negative NAM index are closely related to the intensity variation of the East Asian trough.When negative NAM anomalies propagate down to the upper troposphere and reach a certain intensity(standardized NAM index less than 1),they result in apparent reinforcement of the East Asian trough,which reaches its maximum intensity about one week later.The northerly wind behind the trough transports cold air southward and eastward,and the range of influence and the intensity are closely associated with the trough location.Therefore,the NAM index can be used as a measure of the signals from the disturbed stratosphere to give some indication of cold air activities in China.     

Volcanic Dry Fogs, Climate Cooling, and Plague Pandemics in Europe and the Middle East

Dry fogs spawned by large volcanic eruptions cool the climate by partially blocking incident sunlight and perturbing atmospheric circulation patterns. The climatic and epidemiological consequences of seven intense volcanic dry fogs of the past 21 centuries, detected in Europe and the Middle East, are investigated by using historical reports, supplemented by tree-ring data and polar-ice acidity measurements. The signal-to-noise ratio in the historical data is very high. In four cases, the first winter following the eruption was exceptionally cold. The eruptions preceding these frigid first winters are known, or strongly suspected, to have occurred at high northern latitudes. Two of the other dry fogs are linked unambiguously to tropical eruptions, after each of which the first winter was comparatively mild. The following few years tended to be cooler on the average in all six of the instances that can be checked. Famine and disease pandemics ensued, with the epidemics in all cases reaching the Mediterranean area within 1 to 5 years after the eruptions. In at least five cases, the contagion responsible for the mass mortality was probably plague.     

Climatic changes associated with a global “2°C-stabilization” scenario simulated by the ECHAM5/MPI-OM coupled climate model

In this study, concentrations of the well-mixed greenhouse gases as well as the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations are prescribed to the ECHAM5/MPI-OM coupled climate model so that the simulated global warming does not exceed 2°C relative to pre-industrial times. The climatic changes associated with this so-called “2°C-stabilization” scenario are assessed in further detail, considering a variety of meteorological and oceanic variables. The climatic changes associated with such a relatively weak climate forcing supplement the recently published fourth assessment report by the IPCC in that such a stabilization scenario can only be achieved by mitigation initiatives. Also, the impact of the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations on the simulated climatic changes is investigated. For this particular climate model, the 2°C-stabilization scenario is characterized by the following atmospheric concentrations of the well-mixed greenhouse gases: 418 ppm (CO₂), 2,026 ppb (CH₄), and 331 ppb (N₂O), 786 ppt (CFC-11) and 486 ppt (CFC-12), respectively. These greenhouse gas concentrations correspond to those for 2020 according to the SRES A1B scenario. At the same time, the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations are changed to the level in 2100 (again, according to the SRES A1B scenario), with a global anthropogenic sulphur dioxide emission of 28 TgS/year leading to a global anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load of 0.23 TgS. The future changes in climate associated with the 2°C-stabilization scenario show many of the typical features of other climate change scenarios, including those associated with stronger climatic forcings. That are a pronounced warming, particularly at high latitudes accompanied by a marked reduction of the sea-ice cover, a substantial increase in precipitation in the tropics as well as at mid- and high latitudes in both hemispheres but a marked reduction in the subtropics, a significant strengthening of the meridional temperature gradient between the tropical upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere in the extratropics accompanied by a pronounced intensification of the westerly winds in the lower stratosphere, and a strengthening of the westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics throughout the troposphere. The magnitudes of these changes, however, are somewhat weaker than for the scenarios associated with stronger global warming due to stronger climatic forcings, such as the SRES A1B scenario. Some of the climatic changes associated with the 2°C-stabilization are relatively strong with respect to the magnitude of the simulated global warming, i.e., the pronounced warming and sea-ice reduction in the Arctic region, the strengthening of the meridional temperature gradient at the northern high latitudes and the general increase in precipitation. Other climatic changes, i.e., the El Niño like warming pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean and the corresponding changes in the distribution of precipitation in the tropics and in the Southern Oscillation, are not as markedly pronounced as for the scenarios with a stronger global warming. A higher anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load (for 2030 as compared to the level in 2100 according to the SRES A1B scenario) generally weakens the future changes in climate, particularly for precipitation. The most pronounced effects occur in the Northern Hemisphere and in the tropics, where also the main sources of anthropogenic sulphate aerosols are located.     

Potential climatic transitions with profound impact on Europe

We discuss potential transitions of six climatic subsystems with large-scale impact on Europe, sometimes denoted as tipping elements. These are the ice sheets on Greenland and West Antarctica, the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, Arctic sea ice, Alpine glaciers and northern hemisphere stratospheric ozone. Each system is represented by co-authors actively publishing in the corresponding field. For each subsystem we summarize the mechanism of a potential transition in a warmer climate along with its impact on Europe and assess the likelihood for such a transition based on published scientific literature. As a summary, the ‘tipping’ potential for each system is provided as a function of global mean temperature increase which required some subjective interpretation of scientific facts by the authors and should be considered as a snapshot of our current understanding.     

冬季全国性持续低温事件过程中的平流层—对流层相互作用

利用1959～2017年ERA40/ERA-Interim逐日再分析资料和国家气候中心的逐日站点资料,针对发生在当年11月至次年3月(NDJFM)的全国性持续低温事件(EPECEs),分析了热带外环流的变化特征,以及平流层—对流层相互作用.结果 表明,全国性EPECEs可划分为冷空气在乌拉尔山—西伯利亚关键区堆积和冷空...     

对流层气溶胶的直接气候效应对平流层的影响

通过WACCM-3模式中气溶胶光学厚度与卫星资料的对比发现,模式可以很好地再现全球气溶胶的主要分布特征,但在一些区域还存在数值上的差异。利用数值试验研究对流层气溶胶的直接气候效应对平流层气候的影响,结果表明:对流层气溶胶对平流层气候有明显影响,平流层化学过程在这一影响中起重要作用,而对流层气溶胶对平流层辐射的影响不是其直接气候效应对平流层影响的主要原因。其机制可能是对流层气溶胶改变对流层的辐射平衡,影响对流层的温度和大气环流,进而影响行星波的上传,使得平流层气候发生变化;影响区域主要位于高纬度和极地地区,南半球的变化比北半球大,温度变化最大达10 K,纬向风变化最大可达12 m/s,臭氧体积分数最多减少0.8×10-6。     

融安县金柑大小年结果的气候成因与对策

通过找出金柑结果大小年变异的年份, 分析两种类型年份间的气象条件, 得出金柑第一次开花花芽分化阶段出现长期低温天气和开花、果实膨大时期遇高温、干旱天气是造成融安县金柑小年结果的气候原因, 并提出相应的生产对策     

Secular Variability of the Coupled Tropospheric and Stratospheric Circulation in the GCM ECHAM 3/LSG

Summary  Secular or multi-decadal variability is a widely observed phenomenon, apparent in instrumental and paleo climatic records. These long time oscillations are found in many variables of the climate system. The ocean especially experiences low frequency variations. But also atmospheric variables such as temperature, wind velocity and sea level pressure can show secular variability. The low frequency variability here is examined in the coupled atmosphere-ocean model ECHAM3/LSG T21. A coupled stratospheric and tropospheric mode is detected oscillating with a period of approximately 100 years. The atmospheric pressure system mainly involved in this oscillation is the northern hemispheric winter stratospheric polar vortex. The near surface temperature experiences variations of the same magnitude as the observed temperature trends of the last decades. Multi decadal variability is also shown in the North Atlantic Oscillation Index. A shift of the length of the oscillation period between longer and shorter time scales indicates that chaotic processes might be responsible for the variability. Received February 22, 1999/Revised August 5, 1999