Namaqualand's climate: Recent historical changes and future scenarios

A brief outline of some issues concerning global climate change research is presented before discussing local-scale changes in Namaqaland's rainfall. Using a gridded data set derived through interpolation of station records, trends in observed rainfall for the period 1950–1999 are discussed. To assess what changes may occur during the 21st century, the downscaled results of six different General Circulation Model projections are presented. The historical trends show some clear spatial patterns, which depict regions of wetting in the central coastal belt and the north-eastern part of the domain, and extensive drying along the escarpment. Reasonably good agreement is shown by the different downscaled projections. These suggest increased late summer convective precipitation in the north-east, but extensive drying along the coast in early and mid winter consistent with the poleward retreat of rain-bearing mid-latitude cyclones.     

全球冰冻圈变化预测研究现状

冰冻圈是气候系统重要的圈层,对气候系统有强烈的反馈作用,在全球变暖的背景下,冰冻圈的变化和预测研究愈来愈受到科学界的重视。近年来,冰冻圈的预测研究已经取得重要进展,主要表现在:海冰、积雪冻土等子系统模式发展迅速,开展了不少模式比较计划,这些模式能重现大尺度的季节变化和年际变化特征,模拟能力较以前有了大幅度提高。但模式模拟的不确定性仍普遍存在,主要表现在:冰盖等子系统的模式对于其内部的热力过程、其底部与海洋的相互作用过程缺乏有效的观测手段,认识不够清楚,湖冰河冰模式主要还依赖统计相关模型。随着遥感技术以及资料同化技术的不断应用,各个子系统物理过程认识的不断深入,冰冻圈模式预测将日趋完善,逐渐缩小不确定性。     

Relationships between variations of the land–ocean–atmosphere system of northeastern Asia and northwestern North America

This study is a broad-scale synthesis of information on climate changes in two Arctic terrestrial regions, eastern Siberia and the Alaska–Yukon area of North America. Over the past 60 years (1951–2010), the trends of temperature and precipitation in the two regions are broadly similar in their seasonality. However, atmospheric advection influences the two regions differently during winter. The differential advective effects are much weaker in the other seasons. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is the strongest correlator with interannual variability in the two regions, followed by the Arctic Oscillation and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation.Projected changes by the late 21st Century are qualitatively similar to the changes that have been ongoing over the past 60 years, although the rate of change increases modestly under mid-range forcing scenarios (e.g., the A1B scenario). The greatest warming is projected to occur farther north over the Arctic Ocean in response to sea ice loss. Precipitation is projected to increase by all models, although increases in evapotranspiration preclude conclusions about trends toward wetter or drier land surface conditions. A notable feature of the future climate simulations is a strong maximum of pressure decreases in the Bering Sea region, implying further advective changes.     

2005年北极冰川首期GPS监测

2005年7月至8月,中国北极黄河站第二次科学考察期间,科考队员针对黄河站附近首次队踏勘选定的两条典型冰川(AustreLov啨nbreen和Pedersenbreen),开展了以监测冰川物质平衡和冰川运动为主要内容的研究课题。本文分析了利用差分GPS进行北极冰川运动监测的可行性和优越性;初步处理了首期GPS监测的数据,并进行了精度分析,得出了较为满意的结果;针对北极冰川特殊的地理环境,探讨了在北极冰川上进行GPS测量应该注意的问题。     

The research of Polar sea ice and its role in climate change

As an important part of global climate system,the Polar sea ice is ef fecting on global climate changes through ocean surface radiation balance,mass balance,energy balance as well as the circulating of sea water temperature and salinity.Sea ice research has a centuries-old history.The many correlative sea ice projects were established through the extensive international cooperation d uring the period from the primary research of intensity and the bearing capacity of sea ice to the development of sea/ice/air coupled model.Based on these rese arches,the sea ice variety was combined with the global climate change.All res earch about sea ice includes:the physical properties and processes of sea ice a nd its snow cover,the ecosystem of sea ice regions,sea ice and upper snow albe do,mass balance of sea ice regions,sea ice and climate coupled model.The simu lation suggests that the both of the area and volume of polar sea ice would be r educed in next century.With the developing of the sea ice research,more scient ific issues are mentioned.Such as the interaction between sea ice and the other factors of global climate system,the seasonal and regional distribution of pol ar sea ice thickness,polar sea ice boundary and area variety trends,the growth and melt as well as their influencing factors,the role of the polynya and the sea/air interactions.We should give the best solutions to all of the issues in future sea ice studying.     

南极海冰与我国夏季天气的关系

南极各区海冰变化不同,这种不同的变化必然对各区局地大气环流产生不同的影响,进而可能对全球气候系统产生不同的作用。本文利用Hadley中心提供的1968年1月-2002年12月全球海冰密集度格点资料,结合中央气象台的北半球500hPa、100hPa高度场资料以及中国160站降水、温度资料,利用诊断分析方法,分别对南极Ross海区和Weddell海区海冰与我国夏季天气的关系进行了研究。研究表明,南极Ross海区和Weddell海区海冰对我国夏季天气均具有指示意义。Ross海区是影响我国夏季东北地区降水的海冰关键区,若该区上一年9月海冰偏多,则来年6月我国东北降水偏少;Weddell海区是影响我国夏季东北温度的海冰关键区,若该区上一年9月海冰偏多,则来年6月我国东北温度偏低。     

基于模式优选的21世纪中国气候变化情景集合预估

未来气候变化情景预估是制定气候变化应对和适应策略的科学基础。本文利用参与耦合模式比较计划第五阶段（CMIP5）的30个气候模式的模拟数据,通过评估各模式对历史气候变化的模拟能力,筛选出模拟区域气候变化的最优模式组合,进而建立偏最小二乘回归（PLS）集合预估模型,据此利用最优模式模拟结果预估区域温度和降水变化情景。通过与历史数据的对比,研究发现本文基于最优模式建立的PLS集合预估模型不仅优于传统的多模式集合平均,而且也优于利用全部模式建立的PLS集合预估模型,体现了模式优选过程的重要性。本文基于优选模式的PLS集合预估模型预估结果表明：① 21世纪各区域温度将持续上升,且冬半年升温速率总体大于夏半年,北方地区升温速率总体高于南方地区;RCP 4.5排放情景下温度上升先快后慢,转折点出现在21世纪中期,RCP 8.5排放情景下,呈持续增加趋势,至21世纪末的升温幅度约为RCP 4.5情景的2倍。② 21世纪各区降水变化均呈显著增加趋势,并表现出高排放情景大于低排放情景,少雨区大于多雨区的特征,但是降水增加过程伴有明显的年代际波动。对比发现,传统的等权重集合平均全部模式（EMC）方法预估的中国夏季变暖速率高于冬季,且降水基本呈线性增加,有悖于全球变暖的基本特征及中国降水具有鲜明的年代际变化特征的基本认识。因而,本文预估的温度和降水变化特征均更符合中国气候变化的基本规律。     

海冰在海气交换中的作用及其与海雾的关系

本文用了 1 999年夏季中国首次北极科学考察队对海冰、大气和海洋进行的同步和准同步的综合立体观测所获取的资料 ,研究海冰在海 气相互作用中扮演的角色。发现海冰的种类、分布、冰厚等变化对海气热交换都有重要影响。在浮冰区海洋以潜热的形式向大气输送热量 ,潜热通量与浮冰密集度的大小密切有关 ,浮冰越少潜热通量越大 ,潜热通量约为2 1～ 2 3 .6W /m2 ,潜热通量大于感热通量 ;在冰盖和大浮冰块上 ,大气以感热的形式向冰雪面上输送热量。新生的浮冰区或冰间湖是海气热交换最激烈的地方 ,是气候最敏感的区域 ,是北冰洋蒸汽雾生成的重要条件。用层结大气整体动力学输送法 ,计算了一次大范围的蒸汽雾过程的海气热交换 ,海洋向大气输送的热量总功率约为 1 4 8亿千瓦 ,相当于中国发电能力的 69倍 ,相当于大西洋向北冰洋输送热量平均功率的 1 / 2 0。北冰洋的夏季能够形成各种类型的海雾 :辐射雾、蒸汽雾和平流雾 ,其重要原因就是因为海冰的存在 ,使下垫面的性质复杂化 ,海气交换复杂化。     

近30年北极海冰异常变化趋势

在过去30年间,北极气候发生了前所未有的异常变化,北极海冰变化更是经历了令人瞩目的、从平缓到突变的缩减过程,因此,北冰洋及其海冰的研究得到广泛的重视。综述当前国内外有关北极海冰快速变化的研究工作,对这些大气的现场观测和卫星遥感资料的分析,以及一些全球和区域气候模拟的结果,基本上一致地指出了近3O年来北极海冰的快速衰减趋势,尤其是夏季北极海冰正以每lO年超过10％的变化幅度快速减少。从海冰的基本物理特征、与大气海洋相互作用的物理过程、及其对全球和北极气候变化的响应和反馈机制,研究形成这种快速变化的因子--海表面气温增暖,太平洋与大西洋人流的热盐性质变化,以及大气环流模态的影响等。     

Role of sea ice in air-sea exchange and its relation to sea fog

Synchronous or quasi-synchronous stereoscopic sea-ice-air comprehensive observation was conducted during the First China Arctic Expedition in summer of 1999. Based on these data, the role of sea ice in sea-air exchange was studied. The study shows that the kinds, distribution and thickness of sea ice and their variation significantly influence the air-sea heat exchange. In floating ice area, the heat momentum transferred from ocean to atmosphere is in form of latent heat; latent heat flux is closely related to floating ice concentration; if floating ice is less, the heat flux would be larger. Latent heat flux is about 21 23 6 W·m -2, which is greater than sensible heat flux. On ice field or giant floating ice, heat momentum transferred from atmosphere to sea ice or snow surface is in form of sensible heat. In the floating ice area or polynya, sea-air exchange is the most active, and also the most sensible for climate. Also this area is the most important condition for the creation of Arctic vapor fog. The heat exchange of a large-scale vapor fog process of about 500000 km 2 on Aug. 21 22,1999 was calculated; the heat momentum transferred from ocean to air was about 14 8×10 9 kW. There are various kinds of sea fog, radiation fog, vapor fog and advection fog, forming in the Arctic Ocean in summer. One important cause is the existence of sea ice and its resultant complexity of both underlying surface and sea-air exchange.     

A review of the interaction between the cryosphere and atmosphere

The interaction between the cryosphere and atmosphere is an essential and extremely sensitive mutual action process on the earth. Due to global warming and the cryospheric melting, more and more attention has been paid to the interaction process between the cryosphere and atmosphere, especially the feedback of the cryosphere change to the atmosphere. A comprehensive review of the studies on the interaction between the cryosphere and atmosphere is conducted from two aspects: (1) effects of climate change on the cryosphere or responses of the cryosphere to climate change; and (2) feedback of the cryosphere change to the climate. The response of the cryosphere to climate change is lagging. Such a lagging and cumulative effect of temperature rise within the cryosphere have resulted in a rapid change in the cryosphere in the 21st century, and its impacts have become more significant. The feedback from cryosphere change on the climate are omnifarious. Among them, the effects of sea ice loss and snow cover change, especially the Arctic sea ice loss and the Northern Hemisphere snow cover change, are the most prominent. The Arctic amplification (AA) associated with sea ice feedback is disturbing , and the feedback generated by the effect of temperature rise on snow properties in the Northern Hemisphere is also of great concern. There are growing evidence of the impact of the Arctic cryosphere melting on mid-latitude weather and climate. Weakened storm troughs, steered jet stream and amplified planetary waves associated with energy propagation become the key to explaining the links between Arctic cryosphere change and atmospheric circulation. There is still a great deal of uncertainty about how cryosphere change affects the weather and climate through different atmospheric circulation processes at different spatial and temporal scales due to observation and simulation problems.     

Interdecadal oscillations of temperatures in 1903-2002 over the Antarctic Peninula

<正> In the paper,by use of the monthly mean temperature data of 12 sta-tions in the vicinity of Antarctic Peninsula,the temperature series during 1903-2000 is founded and the interdecadal oscillation of the temperature are discussed.The results indicate that 1) There are three jumps during 1919-1923,1947-1953 and 1976-1982 in recent hundred years and the stable climate step betweentwo jump points lasted about 30 years.2)Annual mean temperature is increasedby 0.730℃ in an echelon during 1903-2000,the warming extent is dissimilarityin each season,the maximum of warming is in the winter and the minimum ofwarming is in summer.3)The ice decline trend is presented in the index of Iceconcentration in the vicinity sea of Antarctic Peninsula,which shows a-0.2053/10a drop,and the decrease trend of the ice concentration index in summerhalf year(Dec-May)is found much more obviously than that in winter half year(Jun-Nov).4)There is better negative relationship between the temperature andthe Ice concentration index in Antarctic Peninsula and its vicinity sea,which cor-relation coefficient of is exceed the significance level of 5% in summer,autumnand annual. Antarctic Peninsula,temperature,sea ice,oscillation.     

2002—2011年南极海冰变化的遥感分析

基于2002—2011年南极地区AMSR-E逐日海冰密集度数据, 计算相应时间段内的海冰外缘线和海冰面积, 分析了南极地区这10年来各时间尺度上的海冰变化, 揭示了海冰变化的时空特征。结果表明: 2002— 2011年南极海冰外缘线、海冰面积分别增加了3.64%、3.8%, 总体上呈现增加的趋势, 其中2008年海冰面积最大。罗斯海、西太平洋和威德尔海的海冰面积呈现增加趋势, 而印度洋和别林斯高晋海/阿蒙森海的海冰面积则趋于减小。南极海冰面积一般夏季最小、冬季最大, 相同季节海冰面积变化波动较小, 不同海区只是变化范围不同。南极一年冰增长速度较低, 平均每年增加约0.1×106 km2, 且大范围地分布在南极大陆(除威德尔海外)周围。多年冰平均每年减少0.05×106 km2, 且多处于威德尔海。海冰面积变化与气温有负相关关系。     

Particle-laden Eurasian Arctic sea ice: observations from July and August 1987

During the summer 1987 expedition of the polar research vessel'Polarstern'in the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean, sea ice at about 84-86°N and 20-30°E was found to have high concentrations of particulate material. The particle-laden ice occurred in patches which often darkened more than half the ice surface at our northernmost positions. Much of this ice appeared to be within the Siberian Branch of the Transpolar Drift stream, which transports deformed, multi-year ice from the Siberian shelves westward across the Eurasian Basin. Lithogenic sediment, which is the major component of the particulate material, may have been incorporated during ice formation on the shallow Siberian seas. Diatoms collected from the particle-rich ice surfaces support this conclusion, as assemblages were dominated by a marine benthic species similar to that reported from sea ice off the coast of northeast Siberia. Based on drift trajectories of buoys deployed on the ice it appears that much of the particle-laden ice exited the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait and joined the East Greenland Current.
Very different sea ice characteristics were found east of the Yermak Plateau and north of Svalbard and Frans Josef Land up to about 83-84°N. Here sea ice was thinner, less deformed, with lower amounts of lithogenic sediment and diatoms. The diatom assemblage was dominated by planktonic freshwater species. Trajectories of buoys deployed on sea ice in this region indicated a tendency for southward transport to the Yermak Plateau or into the Barents Sea.     

Coordinated changes of sea ice over the Beaufort and Chukchi seas: regional and seasonal perspectives

One outstanding feature of the recent Arctic climate is the contrast of the changes of sea ice concentration and thickness between the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea. Since the Arctic Oscillation (AO) plays a critical role in driving Arctic sea ice changes and the Beaufort and Chukchi seas have been hypothesized as a region in which sea ice anomalies originate, we employed a coupled sea ice-ocean model and carried out simulations forced by the AO signal to examine sea ice changes in these regions, focusing on seasonality. With the AO phase transition from negative to positive, anticyclonic windstress weakens broadly in both winter and summer; however, the surface air temperature response shows remarkable seasonal dependence. Positive temperature anomalies spread over the entire domain in winter, while negative anomalies occur in the shelf seas in summer, although positive anomalies remain in the deep-water portion. The simulated sea ice concentration resembles the observed concentration. The strong seasonality of sea ice concentration changes suggests that accumulation of sea ice concentration in the Beaufort Sea and reduction in the Chukchi Sea are mainly produced in summer. Changes of ice thickness are robust through the seasonal cycle. Generally, sea ice dynamics play a critical role in creating the anomalous sea ice pattern and sea ice thermodynamics partially compensate the dynamically-driven changes. However, considerable seasonal differences occur.     

北极拉普捷夫海海冰多年变化研究

拉普捷夫海是北冰洋的边缘海和冰源地,对北冰洋的海冰变化有重要影响。通过分析AMSR-E海冰密集度数据以及NECP-DOE的风场、温度场数据,结果表明拉普捷夫海海冰在2002—2011年经历了如下过程：重冰年(2002—2004)—过渡性质年份(2005—2006) —轻冰年(2007、2009—2011),即冰情由重向轻转变。研究结果也表明拉普捷夫海的冰情轻重与融冰期长短有较好的相关性,融冰期持续时间越短,冰情越重。4个参数,包括海冰距平指数、最小海冰覆盖率、积温、风驱动指数描述了拉普捷夫海的海冰多年变化过程。海冰距平指数是时间（3—11月）平均下的海冰覆盖率距平值,定量给出了各年冰情的轻重;最小海冰覆盖率是夏季海冰的极限情况,变化范围在0.45%—48.73%,发生时间为8月底至10月上旬。积温是上一个冬季气温积累对当年冰情的影响,结果表明积温是影响当年冰情轻重的主要因素。2008年的上一个冬季经历了异常低温,造成当年的异常重冰年。风驱动指数给出了风场对海冰覆盖率变化的短期影响,与同时期其他年份相比,2006年4月、2007年9月均出现了异常强北风,一定程度上造成了2006年融冰开始时间延后、2007年夏季最小海冰覆盖率的明显偏大。     

1979-2012年北极海冰范围年际和年代际变化分析

利用美国冰雪中心发布的海冰密集度数据,对1979—2012年北极海冰范围进行年际和年代际变化分析。结果表明:(1)海冰在秋季融化速度最快,其次为夏季、冬季、春季。2000年后春季下降速率变缓,而其他季节融化速度加快;(2)由于多年冰的融化,太平洋扇区在夏秋季节融化速度要高于其他海区。而大西洋扇区在冬季和春季海冰的融化速度要快于夏秋季节,主要是因为大西洋海温升高;(3)东半球在夏秋季节海冰融化的范围要大于西半球,因此东北航道比西北航道提前开通应用。而整个北极区域近几年春季融化速度变缓,则主要是西半球的作用;(4)从空间分布年代际变化来看,1989—1998年最接近气候态,1979—1988年密集度偏大区域主要在巴伦支海和东西伯利亚海,2009—2012年海冰密集度较常年显著偏小,东半球密集度减小幅度比西半球更大,尤其是冬春季在巴伦支海,夏秋季在楚科奇海。春季时由于风的作用,白令海附近海冰密集度异常偏大;(5)北极区域海冰范围在冬春季比夏秋季突变明显,基本在2003年前后,海冰范围变化周期为6年。     

北冰洋东北航道夏季集装箱航运经济性研究

近年来,随着全球变暖的大趋势,夏季北极海冰范围急剧缩小,为北极的国际航运迎来了机遇,夏季航行于俄罗斯东北航道的船只迅速增多。由于东北航道的距离远远小于传统亚欧航线,因此具有较高的航运价值,很多海运国家对此极为关注。本文通过成本分析法,计算亚欧集装箱航线采用东北航道时可节约的航运成本,对东北航道的经济优势作出评估。     

近百年广东沿海海平面变化趋势

为预估本世纪末广东海平面的可能上升量,从探讨近百年来广东海平面上升率的阶段性变化入手,通过对广东沿海验潮站潮位观测资料的统计分析,得出广东沿海海平面近86年(1925-2010年)、近40年(1970-2010年)和近20年(1993-2010年)的上升率分别为2.1 mm/a、2.5 mm/a和3.2 mm/a,存在加速上升的趋势,并与全球大体呈准同步变化.20世纪90年代以来,广东沿海海平面上升和热带西太平洋的海平面出现突变上升有密切关系.     

末次冰消期以来冰岛周边海域古海洋环境及海冰研究进展

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