A regional climate change simulation over East Asia

In this study, regional climate changes for seventy years (1980–2049) over East Asia and the Korean Peninsula are investigated using the Special Reports on Emission Scenarios (SRES) B1 scenario via a high-resolution regional climate model, and the impact of global warming on extreme climate events over the study area is investigated. According to future climate predictions for East Asia, the annual mean surface air temperature increases by 1.8°C and precipitation decreases by 0.2 mm day^?1 (2030–2049). The maximum wind intensity of tropical cyclones increases in the high wind categories, and the intra-seasonal variation of tropical cyclone occurrence changes in the western North Pacific. The predicted increase in surface air temperature results from increased longwave radiations at the surface. The predicted decrease in precipitation is caused primarily by northward shift of the monsoon rain-band due to the intensified subtropical high. In the nested higher-resolution (20 km) simulation over the Korean Peninsula, annual mean surface air temperature increases by 1.5°C and annual mean precipitation decreases by 0.2 mm day^?1. Future surface air temperature over the Korean Peninsula increases in all seasons due to surface temperature warming, which leads to changes in the length of the four seasons. Future total precipitation over the Korean Peninsula is decreased, but the intensity and occurrence of heavy precipitation events increases. The regional climate changes information from this study can be used as a fruitful reference in climate change studies over East Asia and the Korean peninsula.     

21st century climate change in the Middle East

This study examined the performance and future predictions for the Middle East produced by 18 global climate models participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report. Under the Special Report on Emission Scenarios A2 emissions scenario the models predict an overall temperature increase of ~1.4 K by mid-century, increasing to almost 4 K by late-century for the Middle East. In terms of precipitation the southernmost portion of the domain experiences a small increase in precipitation due to the Northward movement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. The largest change however is a decrease in precipitation that occurs in an area covering the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey, Syria, Northern Iraq, Northeastern Iran and the Caucasus caused by a decrease in storm track activity over the Eastern Mediterranean. Other changes likely to impact the region include a decrease of over 170,000 km² in viable rainfed agriculture land by late-century, increases in the length of the dry season that reduces the length of time that the rangelands can be grazed, and changes in the timing of the maximum precipitation in Northern Iran that will impact the growing season, forcing changes in cropping strategy or even crop types.     

Direct effects and feedback of desert dust on the climate of the Arabian Peninsula during the wet season: a regional climate model study

We investigate the dust radiative forcing and its feedback on the Arabian Peninsula’s wet season climate using the International Centre for Theoretical Physics-Regional Climate Model (ICTP-RegCM4). We have found that the dust plumes exert a negative (positive) radiative forcing at the surface (top of the atmosphere) by reducing incoming solar radiation reaching the ground and locally heating up the atmosphere column. Consequently, the surface air temperature is cooler, hence indicating a decrease in the warm bias and an increase in the temperature gradient. This reduces the geopotential heights and enhances the low-level wind convergence, suggesting stronger upward motion. These changes increase evaporation, the difference between precipitation and evaporation in the atmosphere and rainfall over the Peninsula, indicating an intensification of the hydrologic cycle. The decrease in the precipitation dry bias and the large reduction in the temperature warm bias caused by the impact of dust over the entire Peninsula represent a significant success for the RegCM4 simulation. Therefore, the inclusion of dust in the simulation of the Arabian Peninsula’s climate for the wet season contributes to an improved performance of this regional climate model over the region.     

Multi-decadal scenario simulation over Korea using a one-way double-nested regional climate model system. Part 2: future climate projection (2021–2050)

An analysis of simulated future surface climate change over the southern half of Korean Peninsula using a RegCM3-based high-resolution one-way double-nested system is presented. Changes in mean climate as well as the frequency and intensity of extreme climate events are discussed for the 30-year-period of 2021–2050 with respect to the reference period of 1971–2000 based on the IPCC SRES B2 emission scenario. Warming in the range of 1–4°C is found throughout the analysis region and in all seasons. The warming is maximum in the higher latitudes of the South Korean Peninsula and in the cold season. A large reduction in snow depth is projected in response to the increase of winter minimum temperature induced by the greenhouse warming. The change in precipitation shows a distinct seasonal variation and a substantial regional variability. In particular, we find a large increase of wintertime precipitation over Korea, especially in the upslope side of major mountain systems. Summer precipitation increases over the northern part of South Korea and decreases over the southern regions, indicating regional diversity. The precipitation change also shows marked intraseasonal variations throughout the monsoon season. The temperature change shows a positive trend throughout 2021–2050 while the precipitation change is characterized by pronounced interdecadal variations. The PDF of the daily temperature is shifted towards higher values and is somewhat narrower in the scenario run than the reference one. The number of frost days decreases markedly and the number of hot days increases. The regional distribution of heavy precipitation (over 80 mm/day) changes considerably, indicating changes in flood vulnerable regions. The climate change signal shows pronounced fine scale signal over Korea, indicating the need of high-resolution climate simulations     

Assessing climate change impacts on the Iberian power system using a coupled water-power model

Climate change is expected to have a negative impact on the power system of the Iberian Peninsula; changes in river runoff are expected to reduce hydropower generation, while higher temperatures are expected to increase summer electricity demand, when water resources are already limited. However, these impacts have not yet been evaluated at the peninsular level. We coupled a hydrological model with a power market model to study three impacts of climate change on the current Iberian power system: changes in hydropower production caused by changes in precipitation and temperature, changes in temporal patterns of electricity demand caused by temperature changes, and changes in irrigation water use caused by temperature and precipitation changes. A stochastic dynamic programming approach was used to develop operating rules for the integrated system given hydrological uncertainty. We found that changes in precipitation will reduce runoff, decrease hydropower production (with accompanying increases in thermal generation), and increase irrigation water use, while higher temperatures will shift power demand from winter to summer months. The combined impact of these effects will generally make it more challenging to balance agricultural, power, and environmental objectives in the operation of Iberian reservoirs, though some impacts could be mitigated by better alignment between temporal patterns of irrigation and power demands.     

Climate change and water resources in the Bagmati River Basin,Nepal

This paper characterizes potential hydrological impact of future climate in the Bagmati River Basin, Nepal. For this research, basinwide future hydrology is simulated by using downscaled temperature and precipitation outputs from the Hadley Centre Coupled Model, version 3 (HadCM3), and the Hydrologic Engineering Center's Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS). It is predicted that temperature may rise maximally during the summer rather than winter for both A2 and B2 Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) scenarios. Precipitation may increase during the wet season, but it may decrease during other seasons for A2 scenario. For B2 scenario, precipitation may increase during all the seasons. Under the A2 scenario, premonsoon water availability may decrease more in the upper than the middle basin. During monsoons, both upper and middle basins show increased water availability. During the postmonsoon season, water availability may decrease in the upper part, while the middle part shows a mixed trend. Under the B2 scenario, water availability is expected to increase in the entire basin. The analysis of the projected hydrologic impact of climate change is expected to support informed decision-making for sustainable water management.     

Elevation gradients of European climate change in the regional climate model COSMO-CLM

A transient climate scenario experiment of the regional climate model COSMO-CLM is analyzed to assess the elevation dependency of 21st century European climate change. A focus is put on near-surface conditions. Model evaluation reveals that COSMO-CLM is able to approximately reproduce the observed altitudinal variation of 2 m temperature and precipitation in most regions and most seasons. The analysis of climate change signals suggests that 21st century climate change might considerably depend on elevation. Over most parts of Europe and in most seasons, near-surface warming significantly increases with elevation. This is consistent with the simulated changes of the free-tropospheric air temperature, but can only be fully explained by taking into account regional-scale processes involving the land surface. In winter and spring, the anomalous high-elevation warming is typically connected to a decrease in the number of snow days and the snow-albedo feedback. Further factors are changes in cloud cover and soil moisture and the proximity of low-elevation regions to the sea. The amplified warming at high elevations becomes apparent during the first half of the 21st century and results in a general decrease of near-surface lapse rates. It does not imply an early detection potential of large-scale temperature changes. For precipitation, only few consistent signals arise. In many regions precipitation changes show a pronounced elevation dependency but the details strongly depend on the season and the region under consideration. There is a tendency towards a larger relative decrease of summer precipitation at low elevations, but there are exceptions to this as well.     

Simulating future Caspian sea level changes using regional climate model outputs

We report on simulations of present-day climate (1961–1990) and future climate conditions (2071–2100, Special Report on Emissions Scenario A2) over the Caspian sea basin with a regional climate model (RCM) nested in time-slice general circulation model (GCM) simulations. We also calculate changes (A2 scenario minus present-day) in Caspian sea level (CSL) in response to changes in the simulated hydrologic budget of the basin. For the present-day run, both the GCM and RCM show a good performance in reproducing the water budget of the basin and the magnitude of multi-decadal changes in CSL. Compared to present-day climate, in the A2 scenario experiment we find an increase in cold season precipitation and an increase in temperature and evaporation, both over land and over the Caspian sea. We also find a large decrease of CSL in the A2 scenario run compared to the present-day run. This is due to increased evaporation loss from the basin (particularly over the sea) exceeding increased cold season precipitation over the basin. Our results suggest that the CSL might undergo large changes under future climate change, leading to potentially devastating consequences for the economy and environment of the region.     

The Climate Response to Global Forest Area Changes under Different Warming Scenarios in China

Human activities have notably affected the Earth’s climate through greenhouse gases(GHG), aerosol, and land use/land cover change(LULCC). To investigate the impact of forest changes on regional climate under different shared socioeconomic pathways(SSPs), changes in surface air temperature and precipitation over China under low and medium/high radiative forcing scenarios from 2021 to 2099 are analyzed using multimodel climate simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6(CMIP...     

Hydro-climatic effects of future land-cover/land-use change in montane mainland southeast Asia

Regional climate model simulations with RegCM3 were performed to investigate how future land-cover/land-use (LCLU) change in Montane Mainland Southeast Asia (MMSEA) could affect regional climate. Simulation land-surface parameterizations included present day and plausible 2050 land-covers, as well as two extreme deforestation simulations. In the simulations, the original land cover map of RegCM3, based on AVHRR 1992–93 observations, was replaced with one obtained from MODIS 2001 observations; and the model was set to work at two different spatial resolutions using the sub-grid feature of the land surface model: 27.79 km for the atmosphere and 9.26 km for the land surface. During validation, modeled precipitation closely matched observed precipitation over southern China, but underestimated precipitation in the Indochina Peninsula. The plausible 2050 LCLU simulation predicted little change in regional climate. However, an extreme irrigated crop parameterization caused precipitation to increase slightly in the Indochina Peninsula, decrease substantially in southeastern China, and increase significantly in the South China Sea. The extreme short-grass parameterization caused substantial precipitation decreases in MMSEA, but few changes elsewhere. These simulations indicate in order for significant climatological changes to occur, substantially more LCLU conversion is required than the 16 % change we incorporated into the plausible 2050 land-cover scenario.     

Moisture recycling and the maximum of precipitation in spring in the Iberian Peninsula

In the semiarid interior of the Iberian Peninsula, the topographic insulation from the surrounding seas promotes the role of internal sources of moisture and water recycling in the rainfall regime. In inland Iberia, the annual cycle of precipitation often has a distinctive peak in the springtime, when evapotranspiration (ET) is the highest, in contrast to the coastal areas, where it is more closely related to the external moisture availability and synoptic forcing, with a maximum in winter-autumn and a pronounced minimum in the summer. In this work we investigate the role of land surface water fluxes in the intensification of the hydrological cycle in the Iberian spring. We used data from 5 km resolution WRF-ARW model simulations over the Iberian Peninsula for eleven months of May (2000–2010). To bring out the effect of ET fluxes, we conducted experiments where ET water over land was removed from the system. Our findings indicate that the impact of ET on precipitation is on average very large (37 % increase). The impact is particularly strong in the interior north and northeast areas where the observed annual rainfall cycle has a peak in May, suggesting that the role of surface water fluxes is very important there. To investigate whether this role is as a water source or to amplify precipitation dynamics, we computed the recycling ratio analytically from the model data. In addition, we developed a procedure to quantify the amplification impact by comparing the recycling ratio and the relative change in precipitation between control and experiments with ET removed. Results show that the role of surface water fluxes on precipitation depends on large-scale forcing and moisture advection. When the synoptic forcing and moisture advection are strong, such as in fronts associated to Atlantic storms, the impact of ET fluxes is small. When there is potential for convection, as is commonly the case of late spring in the Iberian Peninsula, ET fluxes have a significant impact. Surface moisture fluxes moisten the boundary layer and increase moist static energy, strengthening convective processes, and their role goes from being a primary water source for precipitation (recycling) to have mostly an amplification effect as external moisture availability increases. Our findings show that for the eleven simulated May cases over the Iberian Peninsula, the role of ET fluxes in activating recycling is important and explains 27–58 % of their total impact on precipitation, depending on the method used to calculate the recycling ratio. This indicates that the complementary effect of ET on amplifying rainfall from external sources of moisture is comparable in magnitude to the recycling mechanism and important as well.     

Multi-decadal scenario simulation over Korea using a one-way double-nested regional climate model system. Part 1: recent climate simulation (1971–2000)

We present an analysis of a high resolution multi-decadal simulation of recent climate (1971–2000) over the Korean Peninsula with a regional climate model (RegCM3) using a one-way double-nested system. Mean climate state as well as frequency and intensity of extreme climate events are investigated at various temporal and spatial scales, with focus on surface air temperature and precipitation. The mother intermediate resolution model domain encompasses the eastern regions of Asia at 60 km grid spacing while the high resolution nested domain covers the Korean Peninsula at 20 km grid spacing. The simulation spans the 30-year period of January 1971 through December 2000, and initial and lateral boundary conditions for the mother domain are provided from ECHO-G fields based on the IPCC SRES B2 scenario. The model shows a good performance in reproducing the climatological and regional characteristics of surface variables, although some persistent biases are present. Main results are as follows: (1) The RegCM3 successfully simulates the fine-scale structure of the temperature field due to topographic forcing but it shows a systematic cold bias mostly due to an underestimate of maximum temperature. (2) The frequency distribution of simulated daily mean temperature agrees well with the observed seasonal and spatial patterns. In the summer season, however, daily variability is underestimated. (3) The RegCM3 simulation adequately captures the seasonal evolution of precipitation associated to the East Asia monsoon. In particular, the simulated winter precipitation is remarkably good, clearly showing typical precipitation patterns that occur on the northwestern areas of Japan during the winter monsoon. Although summer precipitation is underestimated, area-averaged time series of precipitation over Korea show that the RegCM3 agrees better with observations than ECHO-G both in terms of seasonal evolution and precipitation amounts. (4) Heavy rainfall phenomena exceeding 300 mm/day are simulated only at the high resolution of the double nested domain. (5) The model shows a tendency to overestimate the number of precipitation days and to underestimate the precipitation intensities. (6) A CSEOF analysis reveals that the model captures the strength of the annual cycle and the surface warming trend throughout the simulated period.     

Impact of climate change on low-flows in the river Meuse

In this study observed precipitation, temperature, and discharge records from the Meuse basin for the period 1911–2003 are analysed. The primary aim is to establish which meteorological conditions generate (critical) low-flows of the Meuse. This is achieved by examining the relationships between observed seasonal precipitation and temperature anomalies, and low-flow indices. Secondly, the possible impact of climate change on the (joint) occurrence of these low-flow generating meteorological conditions is addressed. This is based on the outcomes of recently reported RCM climate simulations for Europe given a scenario with increased atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations. The observed record (1911–2003) hints at the importance of multi-seasonal droughts in the generation of critical low-flows of the river Meuse. The RCM simulations point to a future with wetter winters and drier summers in Northwest Europe. No increase in the likelihood of multi-seasonal droughts is simulated. However, the RCM scenario runs produce multi-seasonal precipitation and temperature anomalies that are out of the range of the observed record for the period 1911–2003. The impact of climate change on low-flows has also been simulated with a hydrological model. This simulation indicates that climate change will lead to a decrease in the average discharge of the Meuse during the low-flow season. However, the model has difficulties to simulate critical low-flow conditions of the Meuse.     

辽河流域气候变化及对径流影响预估与评估分析

辽河流域属于气候变暖较为显著区域,增温幅度比全球和全国的增温幅度都要高。同时辽河流域也是水资源较为匮乏且需求量大的地区,因此气候变化对水资源影响问题也更值得关注。基于长期历史观测气象水文数据和未来不同情景下气候变化预估资料,建立评估气候变化与径流量的关系,预估未来气候变化对径流量的可能影响,为辽河流域应对气候变化决策提供科学依据。结果表明:1961—2020年,辽河流域气温为持续上升趋势,降水没有明显的增减趋势,但存在阶段性变化;辽河流域降水量与径流量有较好的相关关系,具有较为一致的长期变化趋势与特征,年降水量与径流量相关数达到0.6以上。日降水量与径流量相关分析表明,降水发生后次日且为大雨降水等级(即日降水量≥25 mm)时,两者相关系数可高达0.85;敏感性试验和模式模拟试验表明,径流量对气候变化有明显的响应,降水增加(减少)、气温降低(升高),则径流量增加(减少);在未来RCP8.5排放情景下气温升高趋势最为明显,未来径流量也为显著增加趋势;RCP2.6排放情景下气温增加的幅度最小,未来径流量也表现为无明显增减趋势;RCP4.5情景下,气温增加的幅度居中,未来径流量则为减少趋势。     

未来30年亚洲降水情景预估及偏差订正

借助第五次国际耦合模式比较计划(Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5,CMIP5)多模式集合数据及英国气候研究所(Climatic Research Unit Time-Series version 4.0,CRU TSv4.0)的格点降水资料,分析了多模式集合平均...     

Climate change in Central America and Mexico: regional climate model validation and climate change projections

Central America has high biodiversity, it harbors high-value ecosystems and it??s important to provide regional climate change information to assist in adaptation and mitigation work in the region. Here we study climate change projections for Central America and Mexico using a regional climate model. The model evaluation shows its success in simulating spatial and temporal variability of temperature and precipitation and also in capturing regional climate features such as the bimodal annual cycle of precipitation and the Caribbean low-level jet. A variety of climate regimes within the model domain are also better identified in the regional model simulation due to improved resolution of topographic features. Although, the model suffers from large precipitation biases, it shows improvements over the coarse-resolution driving model in simulating precipitation amounts. The model shows a dry bias in the wet season and a wet bias in the dry season suggesting that it??s unable to capture the full range of precipitation variability. Projected warming under the A2 scenario is higher in the wet season than that in the dry season with the Yucatan Peninsula experiencing highest warming. A large reduction in precipitation in the wet season is projected for the region, whereas parts of Central America that receive a considerable amount of moisture in the form of orographic precipitation show significant decreases in precipitation in the dry season. Projected climatic changes can have detrimental impacts on biodiversity as they are spatially similar, but far greater in magnitude, than those observed during the El Ni?o events in recent decades that adversely affected species in the region.     

内蒙古高原中部主要气候因子及地表覆盖对沙尘暴影响分析

通过对内蒙古中部不同地表覆盖类型和土地利用方式下降水、气温、0 cm地温等气候因子和地表植被对沙尘暴频率和强度的影响分析, 认为:气温、降水等气候因子与地表植被覆盖对沙尘暴频率和强度的影响不具有普遍性, 降水影响相对明显, 地表植被覆盖的影响仅在农牧交错区和牧区草甸草原亚区表现明显。通过防治荒漠化来减少沙尘暴的危害需要因地制宜, 农牧交错区应该是植被恢复的重点区域。     

Greenhouse-gas versus aerosol forcing and African climate response

There are many indicators that human activity may change climate conditions all around the globe through emissions of greenhouse gases. In addition, aerosol particles are emitted from various natural and anthropogenic sources. One important source of aerosols arises from biomass burning, particularly in low latitudes where shifting cultivation and land degradation lead to enhanced aerosol burden. In this study the counteracting effects of greenhouse gases and aerosols on African climate are compared using climate model experiments with fully interactive aerosols from different sources. The consideration of aerosol emissions induces a remarkable decrease in short-wave solar irradiation near the surface, especially in winter and autumn in tropical West Africa and the Congo Basin where biomass burning is mainly prevailing. This directly leads to a modification of the surface energy budget with reduced sensible heat fluxes. As a consequence, temperature decreases, compensating the strong warming signal due to enhanced trace gas concentrations. While precipitation in tropical Africa is less sensitive to the greenhouse warming, it tends to decrease, if the effect of aerosols from biomass burning is taken into account. This is partly due to the local impact of enhanced aerosol burden and partly to modifications of the large-scale monsoon circulation in the lower troposphere, usually lagging behind the season with maximum aerosol emissions. In the model equilibrium experiments, the greenhouse gas impact on temperature stands out from internal variability at various time scales from daily to decadaland the same holds for precipitation under the additional aerosol forcing. Greenhouse gases and aerosols exhibit an opposite effect on daily temperature extremes, resulting in an compensation of the individual responses under the combined forcing. In terms of precipitation, daily extreme events tend to be reduced under aerosol forcing, particularly over the tropical Atlantic and the Congo basin. These results suggest that the simulation of the multiple aerosol effects from anthropogenic sources represents an important factor in tropical climate change, hence, requiring more attention in climate modelling attempts.     

植被归一化植被指数对气候因子的空间敏感性

基于全球土地利用类型和覆盖度,利用生长季多年平均（1982～2015年）归一化植被指数（Normalized Difference Vegetation Index,NDVI）和气候平均态（气温、降水量）数据,讨论了全球植被格局与气候因子之间的关系,建立了两者之间的多元回归模型,并分析了植被对气温和降水气候态敏感性的特征。植被与气候因子在气候梯度上存在明显的对应关系,回归模型可较好拟合气候态NDVI的全球分布格局,拟合与观测NDVI的相关系数达0.90。其中,常绿阔叶林、混交林、常绿针叶林、落叶阔叶林、农田和木本稀树草原空间分布的拟合能力较好（r>0.8）。不同土地覆盖类型的NDVI对气温、降水气候态的空间敏感性特征不同。整体而言,植被对气温和降水的敏感性呈现反相关关系（r=-0.6）。不同土地覆盖类型对气温表现出正/负敏感性,寒带灌木对气温的敏感性最强,而农作物、草原、裸地对气温负敏感性较大;植被对降水的敏感性均表现出正敏感性,其中落叶针叶林、草原和稀树草原对降水的空间敏感性较强。