Tree-ring based hydroclimate reconstruction over northern Vietnam from Fokienia hodginsii: eighteenth century mega-drought and tropical Pacific influence

We present here the first statistically calibrated and verified tree-ring reconstruction of climate from continental Southeast Asia. The reconstructed variable is March–May (MAM) Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) based on ring widths from 22 trees (42 radial cores) of rare and long-lived conifer, Fokienia hodginsii (Po Mu as locally called) from northern Vietnam. This is the first published tree ring chronology from Vietnam as well as the first for this species. Spanning 535 years, this is the longest cross-dated tree-ring series yet produced from continental Southeast Asia. Response analysis revealed that the annual growth of Fokienia at this site was mostly governed by soil moisture in the pre-monsoon season. The reconstruction passed the calibration-verification tests commonly used in dendroclimatology, and revealed two prominent periods of drought in the mid-eighteenth and late-nineteenth centuries. The former lasted nearly 30 years and was concurrent with a similar drought over northwestern Thailand inferred from teak rings, suggesting a “mega-drought” extending across Indochina in the eighteenth century. Both of our reconstructed droughts are consistent with the periods of warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical Pacific. Spatial correlation analyses with global SST indicated that ENSO-like anomalies might play a role in modulating droughts over the region, with El Niño (warm) phases resulting in reduced rainfall. However, significant correlation was also seen with SST over the Indian Ocean and the north Pacific, suggesting that ENSO is not the only factor affecting the climate of the area. Spectral analyses revealed significant peaks in the range of 53.9–78.8 years as well as in the ENSO-variability range of 2.0 to 3.2 years.     

Future impacts of global warming and reforestation on drought patterns over West Africa

This study investigates how a large-scale reforestation in Savanna (8–12°N, 20°W–20°E) could affect drought patterns over West Africa in the future (2031–2060) under the RCP4.5 scenario. Simulations from two regional climate models (RegCM4 and WRF) were analyzed for the study. The study first evaluated the performance of both RCMs in simulating the present-day climate and then applied the models to investigate the future impacts of global warming and reforestation on the drought patterns. The simulated and observed droughts were characterized with the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and the drought patterns were classified using a Self-organizing Map (SOM) technique. The models capture essential features in the seasonal rainfall and temperature fields (including the Saharan Heat Low), but struggle to reproduce the onset and retreat of the West African Monsoon as observed. Both RCMs project a warmer climate (about 1–2 °C) over West Africa in the future. They do not reach a consensus on future change in rainfall, but they agree on a future increase in frequency of severe droughts (by about 2 to 9 events per decade) over the region. They show that reforestation over the Savanna could reduce the future warming by 0.1 to 0.8 °C and increase the precipitation by 0.8 to 1.2 mm per day. However, the impact of reforestation on the frequency of severe droughts is twofold. While reforestation decreases the droughts frequency (by about 1–2 events per decade) over the Savanna and Guinea coast, it increases droughts frequency (by 1 event per decade) over the Sahel, especially in July to September. The results of this study have application in using reforestation to mitigate impacts of climate change in West Africa.     

基于标准化降水指数分析鄂尔多斯市干旱演化特征

利用鄂尔多斯市1961—2010年11个气象站的逐月降水资料,通过标准化降水指数分析鄂尔多斯市近50a来干旱的时空演化特征。结果表明:鄂尔多斯市干旱的发生在时间序列上具有阶段性特征,20世纪60年代前期和90年代末期干旱最为严重,80年代为持续性干旱阶段。用经验正交函数对鄂尔多斯市干旱的空间分布特征做进一步分析,结果表明,鄂尔多斯市干旱的空间分布既有显著的一致性,又有一定的区域性。将鄂尔多斯市具体细分为西北部、东北部、西南部、东南部4个区域,80年代之前,东北部干旱较为严重,80年代以后西部干旱化趋势加剧,西北部尤为明显,东部降水增多。     

Decadal scale droughts over northwestern Thailand over the past 448 years: links to the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean sectors

A 448-year teak chronology from northwestern Thailand is used to assess past changes in the strength of the summer monsoon. The chronology is based on 30 living trees that extend from 1604 to 2005, and a 47-stump chronology that spans from 1558 to 1903. We used methods of cross dating and chronology building that address problems specifically found in teak. The result is a robust chronology with strong signal strength back to 1600 ad, and with variability retained at the multi-decadal scale. Variability in annual growth in teak from this area is dependent on rainfall and soil moisture availability at both the beginning and end of the monsoon season as confirmed by comparisons with temperature, rainfall and PDSI data. These correlation analyses confirm that our record is a proxy for summer monsoon strength and/or duration, and highlight the importance of soil moisture availability in the seasons of transition. The chronology reveals two prominent periods of decadal-scale drought in the early and mid 1700s that correspond to persistently warm sea surface temperature anomalies in the tropical Pacific as derived from Galapagos Island coral records. Speleothem data from central India also indicate protracted periods of drought for the 1700s. While these broad-scale eighteenth-century persistent droughts may be related to protracted El Niño-like conditions in the tropical Pacific, regional climate forcing over the Indian Ocean and western Pacific sectors appears to be a strong contributor as well. Spectral analyses reveal power in the ENSO range of variability from 2.2 to 4 years, and at the multi-decadal scale at 48.5 years.     

Exceptional drought events over eastern China during the last five centuries

Climate extremes, particularly the droughts sustaining over a prolonged period and affecting extended area (defined as “exceptional drought events”), can have long-lasting effects on economic and social activities. Here we use the Chinese drought/flood proxy data of the past five hundred years to identify the cases of exceptional drought events over eastern China (east of 105°E), and to study their spatial patterns and temporal evolutions. The associated circulations for the contemporary case are analyzed using available meteorological data. Possible linkage of these cases to climatic forcing and natural climate events is also explored. After considering the intensity, duration, and spatial coverage, we identified three exceptional drought events, which occurred in 1586–1589, 1638–1641, and 1965–1966 in chronological order. They were the most severe droughts of last five centuries in eastern China, with more than 40% of affected area and the drought center encountered a significant summer rainfall reduction (about 50% or more). These three droughts all developed first in North China (34–40°N), and then either expanded southward or moved to the Yangtze River Valley (27–34°N) and the northern part of the southeastern coastal area (22–27°N). For the 1965–1966 case, the significant reduction of summer precipitation was caused by a weakening of summer monsoon and an anomalous westward and northward displacement of the western Pacific subtropical high. Our analyses also suggest that these three exceptional drought events might be triggered by large volcanic eruptions and amplified by both volcanic eruptions and El Niño events.     

基于降水数据的云南省近61年旱涝特性研究

选择标准化降水指数(SPI)刻画旱涝特征,基于云南省1954—2014年间32个气象站点逐月降水量资料,采用经验正交函数(EOF)方法、径向基函数(RBF)空间插值法、小波分析法,分析了近61年来云南省SPI序列、旱涝情态的时间特征和空间格局。结果表明:近61年来,云南省整体呈现干旱趋势(SPI变率为-0.009 1),SPI序列在2000年之后变化更加剧烈、速率加快。旱涝等级时间序列中,偏涝至偏旱年份占88.52%,大旱占4.92%,重旱和大涝均占3.28%,且自2003年以后,发生干旱的次数和强度明显增加。旱灾易发区主要分布于2个片区:景洪-思茅-元江站片区,以及沾益站东北地区;洪涝易发区主要分布于3个片区:临沧-大理-华坪沿线的西部片区,昭通站北部区域,及云南省东南部片区。干旱与洪涝事件发生的频率具有较好的对应性,但干旱事件发生的频率要略高于洪涝事件。EOF分析的第一个模态表明云南省整体呈现一致性的变涝或变旱特征,可能受到大尺度气候特征影响,第二模态可能受到地形因素的控制,第三模态可能与季风、大气环流等多种因素的影响有关;相应的时间系数也印证了云南省整体具有干旱趋势。SPI序列存在准2 a、准6 a、准8 a、准18 a、准28 a的周期性特征,且以准28 a为主周期。      

Mexican megadrought

Around 1550 AD a megadrought occurred in Mexico, possibly resulting in the death of over 80% of the Indian population at that time from disease. By any measure this was a major disaster that warrants serious examination. A 10,000-year simulation with the CSIRO Mark2 coupled global climatic model has been used to investigate the existence and genesis of major droughts in the Mexican region. One megadrought event was identified and a number of droughts lasting a decade or longer were also found. Average reductions in rainfall of 20 to 40% over the duration of these droughts were found to occur. While there is a mechanistic link between El Niño events and drought over Mexico, this link is tenuous, as shown by observations and this simulation. Stochastic processes appear to have a considerable influence on Mexican rainfall, and contribute to the weakness of the El Niño influence on such rainfall. It is shown that for both El Niño events and stochastic processes drought is created over Mexico by the reduction of the intensity of the climatological high pressure system in this region. This reduces the influx of moisture associated with the monsoonal system and thus rainfall. While only one 'megadrought' was found in the 10,000-year simulation thirteen droughts lasting over a decade occurred, suggesting that a devastating drought in the Mexican region has a return period of less than 1000 years and represents a non-trivial potential problem for this region.     

‘Splendid rains have fallen’: links between El Niño and rainfall variability in the Kalahari, 1840–1900

This study uses a range of published and unpublished historical documentary sources to explore the nature of rainfall variability in the Kalahari Desert and adjacent hardveld regions of central southern Africa during the seventeen Pacific El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) episodes that occurred between 1840 and 1900. Documentary data are used in two ways. First, maps of relative annual rainfall levels are presented for each of the 12 single-year and five protracted ENSO episodes during the period, in order to identify the associated inter-annual rainfall variations. These suggest that the relationship between ENSO episodes and rainfall variability identified for the twentieth century, whereby warm events are frequently preceded by wetter conditions during the austral summer prior to the event year and succeeded by drought in the following summer, has broadly held for much of the last 160 years. This is despite the long-term fluctuations in precipitation and temperature which are known to have occurred over this period. Droughts are identified following at least thirteen of the 17 single-year and protracted ENSO episodes. Pre-ENSO wetter periods are less common, with only nine of the ENSO episodes preceded by above-normal rainfall. Second, the documentary data are analyzed in detail in order to reveal any evidence for high resolution intra-annual variations in the seasonal distribution of rainfall during ENSO events. Seasonal sequences of rainfall/drought appear to have closely followed contemporary patterns, with heavy rainfall commonly occurring late in the pre-ENSO year or early in the ENSO year(s), and drought at the start of the post-ENSO year. This relationship can be seen to hold most strongly for single-year ENSO warm events and for the first year of protracted events, but rainfall conditions were more variable during the later years of protracted events.     

Probabilistic assessment of projected climatological drought characteristics over the Southeast USA

The study makes a probabilistic assessment of drought risks due to climate change over the southeast USA based on 15 Global Circulation Model (GCM) simulations and two emission scenarios. The effects of climate change on drought characteristics such as drought intensity, frequency, areal extent, and duration are investigated using the seasonal and continuous standard precipitation index (SPI) and the standard evapotranspiration index (SPEI). The GCM data are divided into four time periods namely Historical (1961–1990), Near (2010–2039), Mid (2040–2069), and Late (2070–2099), and significant differences between historical and future time periods are quantified using the mapping model agreement technique. Further, the kernel density estimation approach is used to derive a novel probability-based severity-area-frequency (PBS) curve for the study domain. Analysis suggests that future increases in temperature and evapotranspiration will outstrip increases in precipitation and significantly affect future droughts over the study domain. Seasonal drought analysis suggest that the summer season will be impacted the most based on SPI and SPEI. Projections based on SPI follow precipitation patterns and fewer GCMs agree on SPI and the direction of change compared to the SPEI. Long-term and extreme drought events are projected to be affected more than short-term and moderate ones. Based on an analysis of PBS curves, especially based on SPEI, droughts are projected to become more severe in the future. The development of PBS curves is a novel feature in this study and will provide policymakers with important tools for analyzing future drought risks, vulnerabilities and help build drought resilience. The PBS curves can be replicated for studies around the world for drought assessment under climate change.     

The role of temperature in drought projections over North America

The effects of future temperature and hence evapotranspiration increases on drought risk over North America, based on ten current (1970–1999) and ten corresponding future (2040–2069) Regional Climate Model (RCM) simulations from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program, are presented in this study. The ten pairs of simulations considered in this study are based on six RCMs and four driving Atmosphere Ocean Coupled Global Climate Models. The effects of temperature and evapotranspiration on drought risks are assessed by comparing characteristics of drought events identified on the basis of Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspration Index (SPEI). The former index uses only precipitation, while the latter uses the difference (DIF) between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) as input variables. As short- and long-term droughts impact various sectors differently, multi-scale (ranging from 1- to 12-month) drought events are considered. The projected increase in mean temperature by more than 2 °C in the future period compared to the current period for most parts of North America results in large increases in PET and decreases in DIF for the future period, especially for low latitude regions of North America. These changes result in large increases in future drought risks for most parts of the USA and southern Canada. Though similar results are obtained with SPI, the projected increases in the drought characteristics such as severity and duration and the spatial extent of regions susceptible to drought risks in the future are considerably larger in the case of SPEI-based analysis. Both approaches suggest that long-term and extreme drought events are affected more by the future increases in temperature and PET than short-term and moderate drought events, particularly over the high drought risk regions of North America.     

Trends in Drought Frequency – the Fate of DOC Export From British Peatlands

There is increasing evidence that drought is leading to increased loss of dissolved organic carbon from upland peats. Therefore, this study endeavours to understand the severity and frequency of the scale of drought responsible for driving the observed changes; and, by reconstructing climatic records, to understand whether such droughts are increasing in severity and frequency. The study suggests that there are two levels of drought severity important in the peatlands: a hydrological drought that causes hydrophobic effects in the upper peat profile lasting 3–4 years in duration, and a more severe biogeochemical drought that triggers new mechanisms of DOC production and decade-long effects. The study uses long term climate data from Central England and Northern England to reconstructs depth to water table for an upland peat catchment back to 1766 and shows that hydrological drought has a return period of 25 years and that biogeochemical drought has a return period of 15.5 years. Statistical modelling of the time series of annual droughts shows only weak evidence for an increasing frequency of severe droughts since 1766, but stronger evidence for the recent past. The return period of drought of sufficient severity to cause biogeochemical response is coming close to the length of effect such a drought would have, i.e. trends in drought frequency mean that peatlands may no longer be resilient to the impact of drought, with dire consequences for the storage of carbon in these environments.     

Combining the standardized precipitation index and climatic water deficit in characterizing droughts: a case study in Romania

This paper characterizes droughts in Romania using the approach of both the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and climatic water deficit (WD). The values of the main climatic factors (rainfall, temperature, reference evapotranspiration, etc.) were obtained from 192 weather stations in various regions of Romania. Penman–Monteith reference evapotranspiration (ET_o-PM) was used to calculate WD as the difference between precipitation (P) and ET_o-PM. SPI was calculated from precipitation values. There is a clear difference between drought and aridity. Drought occurrence determines higher WD values for plains and plateaus and lower climatic excess water (EW) values for high mountains in Romania, depending on the aridity of the specific region considered and drought severity. WD calculated as mean values for both normal conditions and, for all locations studied, various types of drought was correlated with mean annual precipitation and temperature, respectively. The combined approach of WD and SPI was mainly carried out for periods of 1 year, but such studies could also be done for shorter periods like months, quarters, or growing season. The most arid regions did not necessarily coincide with areas of the most severe drought, as there were no correlations between WD and SPI and no altitude-based SPI zones around the Carpathian Mountains, as is the case for other climate characteristics, soils and vegetation. Water resource problems arise where both SPI values characterize extremely droughty periods and WD values are greatly below ?200 mm/year. This combined use of SPI and WD characterizes the dryness of a region better than one factor alone and should be used for better management of water in agriculture in Romania and also other countries with similar climate characteristics.     

The 1877–1878 El Niño episode: associated impacts in South America

At times when attention on climate issues is strongly focused on the assessment of potential impacts of future climate change due to the intensification of the planetary greenhouse effect, it is perhaps pertinent to look back and explore the consequences of past climate variability. In this article we examine a large disruption in global climate that occurred during 1877–1878, when human influence was negligible. The mechanisms explaining this global disturbance are not well established, but there is considerable evidence that the major El Niño episode that started by the end of 1876 and peaked during the 1877–1878 boreal winter contributed significantly to it. The associated regional climate anomalies were extremely destructive, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, where starvation due to intense droughts in Asia, South-East Asia and Africa took the lives of more than 20 million people. In South America regional precipitation anomalies were typical of El Niño events, with rainfall deficit and droughts in the northern portion of the continent as well as in northeast Brazil and the highlands of the central Andes (Altiplano). In contrast, anomalously intense rainfall and flooding episodes were reported for the coastal areas of southern Ecuador and Northern Perú, as well as along the extratropical West coast of the continent (central Chile, 30° S–40° S), and in the Paraná basin in the southeast region. By far the most devastating impacts in terms of suffering and loss of life occurred in the semiarid region of northeast Brazil where several hundreds of thousands of people died from starvation and diseases during the drought that started in 1877.     

Multi-decadal scale variability in autumn-winter rainfall in south-western Australia since 1655 AD as reconstructed from tree rings of Callitris columellaris

We present the first tree-ring based reconstruction of rainfall for the Lake Tay region of southern Western Australia. We examined the response of Callitris columellaris to rainfall, the southern oscillation index (SOI), the southern annular mode (SAM) and surface sea temperature (SST) anomalies in the southern Indian Ocean. The 350-year chronology was most strongly correlated with rainfall averaged over the autumn-winter period (March–September; r = ?0.70, P < 0.05) and SOI values averaged over June–August (r = 0.25, P < 0.05). The chronology was not correlated with SAM or SSTs. We reconstructed autumn-winter rainfall back to 1655, where current and previous year tree-ring indices explained 54% of variation in rainfall over the 1902–2005 calibration period. Some variability in rainfall was lost during the reconstruction: variability of actual rainfall (expressed as normalized values) over the calibration period was 0.78, while variability of the normalized reconstructed values over the same period was 0.44. Nevertheless, the reconstruction, combined with spectral analysis, revealed that rainfall naturally varies from relatively dry periods lasting to 20–30 years to 15-year long periods of above average rainfall. This variability in rainfall may reflect low-frequency variation in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation rather than the effect of SAM or SSTs.     

Analysis of multidimensional aspects of agricultural droughts in Zimbabwe using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)

This study focuses on a framework of methodologies used for analyzing the frequency and spatiotemporal characteristics of agricultural droughts in Zimbabwe from a vulnerability context. By employing an empirical orthogonal analysis method, the study revealed that relatively strong spatial and temporal station drought relationships prevail, making the drought spatiotemporal characteristics of the country to be considered highly homogeneous. Thus, agricultural droughts were characterized temporarily using the Standardized Precipitation Index derived from rainfall data for the longer but sparse data period from 1901 to 2004. At the same time, higher spatial density analysis was achieved from shorter but denser database for the period 1941 to 1999. The results indicated that drought is a natural climatic feature of the region and occurs from time to time in defined periods. However, severe and extreme droughts tend to concentrate near the end of the time series, suggesting that during the earlier period of the twentieth century, droughts have been smaller or less pervasive. The extreme droughts appear to inherit the coincidence of both very high values of spatial extent and intensity in a single event. This offers a possible explanation to why extreme droughts in Zimbabwe usually have dire consequences on agriculture and the national economy. By showing that the related national drought impacts on staple maize food production can be estimated, this study has demonstrated that it is possible to anticipate future drought hazard impacts and predict periods of food insecurity. As far as the forecasting of agricultural droughts is concerned, the recently discovered Indian Ocean dipole/zonal mode seems to perform better than the traditional El Niño–Southern Oscillation as a potential drought predictor during the twentieth century.     

Analysis of meteorological drought episodes in Paraguay

This paper analyzes the meteorological drought events in Paraguay in the period of 1964 to 2011, using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The objective is to determine if the frequency and/or severity of droughts has increased or decreased in the last years, in response of climate change. They The southernmost parts of the country are affected by severe droughts producing damage to soybean and corn crop during the rainy season (October–March) especially during the summer of 2008–2009. The years of 1967, 1968, 1978, 1979, 2000 and 2008 was identified as severe to extreme drought events and coincides with La Niña event. However, the relationship between all drought events, especially those agricultural droughts and La Niña is not clear, suggesting the necessity of new research, focusing on new drivers to explain the cause of the droughts. The economy of Paraguay, based for good part on agriculture, is clearly vulnerable to droughts. Even though no undeniable increasing trend in drought frequency/severity was detected, contingency plans to diminish drought impacts ought to be elaborated.     

Reconstructed cool- and warm-season precipitation over the tribal lands of northeastern Arizona

For over a decade, the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation of northeastern Arizona have suffered the effects of persistent drought conditions. Severe dry spells have critically impacted natural ecosystems, water resources, and regional livelihoods including dryland farming and ranching. Drought planning and resource management efforts in the region are based largely on the instrumental climate record, which contains a limited number of severe, sustained droughts. In this study, a new network of moisture-sensitive tree-ring chronologies provides the basis for evaluating the longer-term temporal variability of precipitation in the Four Corners region. By analyzing the earlywood and latewood components within each annual tree ring, we are able to generate separate, centuries-long reconstructions of both cool- (October-April) and warm-season (July-August) precipitation. These proxy records offer new insights into seasonal drought characteristics and indicate that the instrumental record fails to adequately represent precipitation variability over the past 400 years. Through the use of two different analysis techniques, we identify multiyear and decadal-scale drought events more severe than any in the modern era. Furthermore, the reconstructions suggest that many of the historically significant droughts of the past (e.g., 17th century Puebloan drought) were not merely winter phenomena, but persisted through the summer season as well. By comparing these proxy records with historical documents, we are able to independently validate the reconstructions and better understand the socioeconomic and environmental significance of past climate anomalies on the tribal lands of northeastern Arizona.     

湖南极端干旱气候时段人影作业潜力分析

利用湖南97个气象观测站逐日综合气象干旱指数、逐日降水量和湖南天气气候分区,研究湖南极端干旱特征和极端干旱时段内人工影响天气增雨潜力,结果表明:①湖南极端干旱期有相当的增雨潜力,各个分区的极端干旱频次和大气可降水量年代际变化除70年代外均呈现为北少南多的特点。②极端干旱时段内各分区年均可增雨日数主要表现为月际差异,可增雨日数主要集中在8—10月,各分区区域差异较小,各分区在伏旱期的可增雨日数大约占伏旱期的16%～20%。③湖南极端干旱按照出现的季节分类有11种,频次最高的是夏秋连旱,同时夏秋连旱的可增雨日数最多。     

Observed climate variability and change in Urmia Lake Basin, Iran

This paper analyzes climate variability and change in the Urmia Lake Basin, northwest of Iran. Annual average of the following data time series has been analyzed by statistical methods: dry bulb temperature, maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation, and number of rainy and snowy days. We have also used mean monthly temperature and precipitation data for analysis of drought spells for the period 1964–2005 to find out whether fluctuations in the lake level are attributable to natural drought. Our results indicate that mean precipitation has decreased by 9.2 % and the average maximum temperature has increased by 0.8°C over these four decades. The seasonal changes are particularly visible in winter and spring. Results of the Palmer Drought Severity Index show that on average, drought episodes have hit the Urmia Lake Basin every 5 years and most of them reached severe levels, but recent droughts have become more intense and last longer.     

Drought assessment for the potential of precipitation enhancement in northern Greece

The paper is part of a series earlier studies in which the precipitation enhancement potential in central and northern Greece is assessed. A drought analysis is performed in this study. In particular, the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) is used for the quantitative estimation of droughts on a monthly basis. Emphasis is placed on drought identification and estimation as well as the severity and areal extent of the phenomenon. The results indicate that there are several drought periods which are common to all stations in central and northern Greece, characterized by significant severity and time duration. There are also a large number of drought periods during the summer months as well as during the winter months.With 7 Figures