Possible reverse trend in Asian summer monsoon strength during the late Holocene

Holocene climate change is characterized as generally cooling in high latitudes and drying in tropical and Asian summer monsoonal regions, following the gradual decrease in northern hemisphere summer insolation over the last 12,000 years. However, some recent high-resolution, well-dated monsoon reconstructions seem to suggest an abnormal increase in Asian summer monsoon strength during the late Holocene, against the generally weakening Holocene trend. Here, we synthesize marine and terrestrial moisture records from Asian monsoonal regions that span most of the Holocene period. Late Holocene strengthening of Asian summer monsoon identified from a wealth of the synthesized monsoon records appears to be a robust feature, which warrants further consideration of its possible causes. The possible reverse trend in Asian summer monsoon strength preceding insolation minima seems to have also occurred during previous interglacial periods, based on speleothem records. We further show a similar late Holocene reverse trend in tropical hydrological changes, suggesting that the Asian summer monsoon behavior might be internally linked to the movement of the average position of the ITCZ and ENSO variability during the late Holocene. On the other hand, we suggest that even though several Holocene temperature records indeed show a reverse trend in the late Holocene, the overall evidence for a link between the late Holocene reverse trend in Asian summer monsoon and global temperature changes is insufficient. The reverse trend in Asian summer monsoon during the late Holocene is difficult to be explained with the traditional boreal insolation-driven view. We suggest that this phenomenon might be linked to austral summer insolation changes and/or greenhouse gas increase. However, we caution that additional paleoclimate reconstructions and model simulations are needed to systematically study the spatial pattern and understand underlying mechanism of the late Holocene reverse trend in Asian summer monsoon strength.     

Study of the global and regional climatic impacts of ENSO magnitude using SPEEDY AGCM

ENSO is considered as a strong atmospheric teleconnection that has pronounced global and regional circulation effects. It modifies global monsoon system, especially, Asian and African monsoons. Previous studies suggest that both the frequency and magnitude of ENSO events have increased over the last few decades resulting in a need to study climatic impacts of ENSO magnitude both at global and regional scales. Hence, to better understand the impact of ENSO amplitude over the tropical and extratropical regions focussing on the Asian and African domains, ENSO sensitivity experiments are conducted using ICTPAGCM (‘SPEEDY’). It is anticipated that the tropical Pacific SST forcing will be enough to produce ENSO-induced teleconnection patterns; therefore, the model is forced using NINO3.4 regressed SST anomalies over the tropical Pacific only. SPEEDY reproduces the impact of ENSO over the Pacific, North and South America and African regions very well. However, it underestimates ENSO teleconnection patterns and associated changes over South Asia, particularly in the Indian region, which suggests that the tropical Pacific SST forcing is not sufficient to represent ENSO-induced teleconnection patterns over South Asia. Therefore, SST forcing over the tropical Indian Ocean together with air–sea coupling is also required for better representation of ENSO-induced changes in these regions. Moreover, results obtained by this pacemaker experiment show that ENSO impacts are relatively stronger over the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) compared to extratropics and high latitude regions. The positive phase of ENSO causes weakening in rainfall activity over African tropical rain belt, parts of South and Southeast Asia, whereas, the La Niña phase produces more rain over these regions during the summer season. Model results further reveal that ENSO magnitude has a stronger impact over African Sahel and South Asia, especially over the Indian region because of its significant impact over the tropical Atlantic and the Indian Ocean through Walker circulation. ENSO-induced negative (positive) NAO-like response and associated changes over Southern Europe and North Africa get significantly strong following increased intensity of El Niño (La Niña) in the northern (southern) hemisphere in the boreal winter (summer) season. We further find that ENSO magnitude significantly impacts Hadley and Walker circulations. The positive phase of ENSO (El Niño) overall strengthens Hadley cell and a reverse is true for the La Niña phase. ENSO-induced strengthening and weakening of Hadley cell induces significant impact over South Asian and African ITCZ convective regions through modification of ITCZ/monsoon circulation system.     

东亚夏季风水汽输送带及其对中国大暴雨与洪涝灾害的影响

东亚夏季风每年给中国东部地区带来充沛的降水，是中国水资源的主要来源，同时也常常给中国造成严重的洪涝灾害。东亚夏季风水汽输送的强度、影响范围和持续性在极端暴雨过程中起着关键的作用。这支夏季风气流的水汽输送带可称为东亚季风水汽输送带，与国际上近期提出的"大气河"概念相近，但又不完全相同。东亚夏季风水汽输送带是东亚夏季风最具地区性的特征，也是东亚地区夏季大暴雨和洪涝的制造者。本文根据近百年来的资料，综合评述了东亚夏季风水汽输送带的特征和形成原因，并以海河、黄河、淮河与长江近百年最强的5次持续大暴雨过程为例，分析了季风水汽输送带的重要作用。最后，提出气候变暖可以通过4个方面影响全球水循环，包括气候变暖后大气可容纳更多的水汽、大气环流发生变化、辐射强迫改变以及气溶胶影响的区域性等，这些变化都会对季风水汽输送带产生重要影响。     

东亚夏季风水汽输送带及其对中国大暴雨与洪涝灾害的影响

东亚夏季风每年给中国东部地区带来充沛的降水，是中国水资源的主要来源，同时也常常给中国造成严重的洪涝灾害。东亚夏季风水汽输送的强度、影响范围和持续性在极端暴雨过程中起着关键的作用。这支夏季风气流的水汽输送带可称为东亚季风水汽输送带，与国际上近期提出的"大气河"概念相近，但又不完全相同。东亚夏季风水汽输送带是东亚夏季风最具地区性的特征，也是东亚地区夏季大暴雨和洪涝的制造者。本文根据近百年来的资料，综合评述了东亚夏季风水汽输送带的特征和形成原因，并以海河、黄河、淮河与长江近百年最强的5次持续大暴雨过程为例，分析了季风水汽输送带的重要作用。最后，提出气候变暖可以通过4个方面影响全球水循环，包括气候变暖后大气可容纳更多的水汽、大气环流发生变化、辐射强迫改变以及气溶胶影响的区域性等，这些变化都会对季风水汽输送带产生重要影响。     

Indian Monsoon Variability in a Global Warming Scenario

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) constituted by the World Meteorological Organisation provides expert guidance regarding scientific and technical aspects of the climate problem. Since 1990 IPCC has, at five-yearlyintervals, assessedand reported on the current state of knowledge and understanding of the climate issue. These reports have projected the behaviour of the Asian monsoon in the warming world. While the IPCC Second Assessment Report (IPCC, 1996) on climate model projections of Asian/Indian monsoon stated ``Most climate models produce more rainfall over South Asia in a warmer climate with increasing CO<sub>2</sub>', the recent IPCC (2001) Third Assessment Report states ``It is likely that the warming associated with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations will cause an increase in Asian summer monsoon variability and changes in monsoon strength.'Climate model projections(IPCC, 2001) also suggest more El Niño – like events in the tropical Pacific, increase in surface temperatures and decrease in the northern hemisphere snow cover. The Indian Monsoon is an important component of the Asian monsoon and its links with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, northern hemisphere surface temperature and Eurasian snow are well documented.In the light of the IPCC globalwarming projections on the Asian monsoon, the interannual and decadal variability in summer monsoon rainfall over India and its teleconnections have been examined by using observed data for the 131-year (1871–2001) period. While the interannual variations showyear-to-year random fluctuations, thedecadal variations reveal distinct alternate epochs of above and below normal rainfall. The epochs tend to last for about three decades. There is no clear evidence to suggest that the strength and variability of the Indian Monsoon Rainfall (IMR) nor the epochal changes are affected by the global warming. Though the 1990s have been the warmest decade of the millennium(IPCC, 2001), the IMR variability has decreased drastically.Connections between the ENSO phenomenon, Northern Hemisphere surface temperature and the Eurasian snow with IMR reveal that the correlations are not only weak but have changed signs in the early 1990s suggesting that the IMR has delinked not only with the Pacific but with the Northern Hemisphere/Eurasian continent also. The fact that temperature/snow relationships with IMR are weak further suggests that global warming need not be a cause for the recent ENSO-Monsoon weakening.Observed snow depth over theEurasian continent has been increasing, which could be a result of enhanced precipitation due to the global warming.     

Comparison of temperature change between the westerly and monsoon influencing region in China from 1961 to 2006

Surface air temperature is one of the main factors that can be used to denote climate change. Its variation in the westerly and monsoon-influenced part of China (i.e., North-West and East China) were analyzed by using monthly data during 1961–2006 from 139 and 375 meteorological stations over these two regions, respectively. The method of trend coefficient and variability was utilized to study the consistency and discrepancy of temperature change over North-West and East China. The results suggest that whether for the annual or the seasonal mean variations of temperature, there were consistent striking warming trends based on the background of global warming over North-West and East China. The most obvious warming trends all appeared in winter over the two regions. Except for the period in spring, the annual and seasonal mean warming trends in North-West China are more obvious than those in East China. The annual mean temperature warming rates are 0.34°C per decade and 0.22°C per decade over North-West and East China, respectively. The average seasonal increasing rates in spring, summer, autumn, and winter are 0.22°C per decade, 0.24°C per decade, 0.35°C per decade, and 0.55°C per decade in North-West China, respectively. At the same time, they are 0.25°C per decade, 0.11°C per decade, 0.22°C per decade, and 0.39°C per decade in East China, respectively. The temperature discrepancies of two adjacent decades are positive over the westerlies and monsoonal region, and they are bigger in the westerlies region than those in the monsoonal region. The most significant warming rate is from the North-East Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China to West Qinghai Province of China in all seasons and annually over the westerlies region. The North and North-East China are the main prominent warming areas over the monsoonal region. The warming rate increases with latitude in the monsoonal region, but this is not the case in the westerlies region.     

The monsoon system: Land–sea breeze or the ITCZ?

For well over 300 years, the monsoon has been considered to be a gigantic land–sea breeze driven by the land–ocean contrast in surface temperature. In this paper, this hypothesis and its implications for the variability of the monsoon are discussed and it is shown that the observations of monsoon variability do not support this popular theory of the monsoon. An alternative hypothesis (whose origins can be traced to Blanford’s (1886) remarkably perceptive analysis) in which the basic system responsible for the Indian summer monsoon is considered to be the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) or the equatorial trough, is then examined and shown to be consistent with the observations. The implications of considering the monsoon as a manifestation of the seasonal migration of the ITCZ for the variability of the Indian summer monsoon and for identification of the monsoonal regions of the world are briefly discussed.     

季风区古环境演化的相似性与人类演化

通过对东亚季风区、印度季风区及西非季风区上新世一更新世古气候记录的对比,发现这3个地区分别在2．8～2．5MaB．P,1．8～1．6MaB．P．和1．2～0．6MaB．P．前后都发生了明显的气候转型事件。在这些转型事件的前后,气候变化主导性周期发生了明显的改变。此外,这个时期气候变化的主要趋势是干旱程度加剧,或季节性增加。由此说明北半球季风区在长时间尺度上气候变化的相似性,并意味着有一个天文因素以外的,或许存在于地球系统内部的因素控制了气候转型事件。季风区气候变化的整体性有可能对人类演化过程有深刻的调节作用。     

Modelling the impact of tectonics,surface conditions and sea surface temperatures on Saharan and sub-Saharan climate evolution

Using an Atmospheric Global Circulation Model, we assess the relevance of selected atmospheric mechanisms for climate evolution of Saharan and sub-Saharan regions since the Miocene. First, we test the influence of the East-African Rift System uplift on atmospheric dynamics. Although the uplift played an important role in triggering East-African rainfall, no significant impact over central and western Africa has been detected. We also analyse the feedbacks of a giant lake on the climate of Chad basin. First results infer a negative feedback of the giant lake on the water balance, as convection is weakened by the cold water surface and as water evaporated from the lake does not feed the basin hydrological cycle. Lastly, we suggest that colder than present sea surface temperatures over the Gulf of Guinea reinforce the West-African monsoon, by enhancing the moisture advection engine via stronger thermal contrast between the ocean and the continent.     

全球变化与亚洲季风

本文介绍近年来季风研究的某些进展,着重介绍和探讨青藏高原和ＥＮＳＯ事件对于中国和印度夏季风雨量变化的影响以及在全球变暖的背景下中国和印度季风雨量的可能变化。     

第四纪时期东亚季风变化的动力机制

本文作者主张：古气候演化的动力机制研究应从动力因子和动力过程两个方面人手。通过对比东亚冬季风、夏季风、印度季风及全球冰量变化的时间特征和频率特征，我们得到以下认识：１)大致在过去０．８Ｍａ这个时段，东亚冬、夏季风基本上具同相位、同周期的互为消长演化特征；２)东南季风演化具０．１Ｍａ的主导周期，而印度季风变化则以较短周期为主；３)东亚冬、夏季风与全球冰量变化在时间范畴上可作很好的对比，尤其是这三者均含有主导性的０．１Ｍａ周期。在此基础上，本文提出东亚季风演化的“全球冰量驱动模式”，并初步讨论了东亚季风变化对全球冰量变化响应的动力过程。     

ENSO-7赤道西太平洋异常纬向风所驱动的热带太平洋次表层海温距平的循环

近几年的一系列分析研究表明，ENSO与异常东亚冬季风之间有相互影响，持续的强（弱）东亚冬季风通过引起赤道西太平洋地区的西（东）风异常对El Niño/La Niña的发生起着重要作用；赤道太平洋次表层海温异常（SOTA）的年际变化（循环）与ENSO发生有密切关系；ENSO的真正源在西太平洋暖池，暖池正（负）SOTA沿赤道温跃层东传到东太平洋，便导致El Niño/La Niña的爆发；在暖池正（负）SOTA沿赤道东传的同时，有负（正）SOTA沿10°N和10°S纬度带向西传播，从而构成SOTA的循环；热带太平洋SOTA循环的驱动者是赤道西太平洋的异常纬向风。进而可以认为：ENSO实质上是主要由异常东亚季风引起的赤道西太平洋异常纬向风所驱动的热带太平洋次表层海温距平的年际循环。     

近百年全球温度变化中的ENSO分量

首先利用Nin~o C区海温、Nin~o 3区海温及两个不同的SOI序列,建立了1867年春到1998年春期间的ENSO指数序列。近百年来ENSO对热带、热带外地区年际尺度的温度变化有显著影响,热带地区温度变化滞后ENSO约1个季,热带外地区滞后约2～3个季。ENSO能解释同期全球年平均温度方差的14%～16%左右;如果考虑ENSO对温度影响的滞后特征,则能解释的部分提高到20.6%。ENSO对温度的影响主要是在年际时间尺度上,对近百年来全球温度变化的长期趋势和年代际变率贡献不大。     

Variability of Indian monsoon-ENSO relationship in a 1000-year MRI-CGCM2.2 simulation

There is a close relationship between interannual variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (drought conditions over India accompany warm ENSO events and vice versa). However, recent observations suggest a weakening of this ENSO-monsoon relationship that may be linked to global warming. We report here an analysis of the ENSO-monsoon relationship within the framework of a 1000-year control simulation of the MRI-coupled general circulation model (GCM), MRI-CGCM2.2. An overall correlation between the June-July-August (JJA) Nino3.4 sea surface temperature and the JJA Indian monsoon rainfall is –0.39, with reasonable circulation characteristics associated with the modeled ENSO. The simulated ENSO-monsoon relationship reveals long-term variations, from –0.71 to +0.07, in moving 31-year windows. This modulation in the ENSO-monsoon relationship is associated with decadal variability of the climate system.     

A comparison of Indian and African monsoon variability at different time scales

A review is given of the summer monsoon systems in Africa and India, and of their comparison at different time scales. Features of the circulation are described first, including the main respective meteorological centres of action controlling the annual cycle of the rain bands over these two regions. The main elements of the atmospheric intraseasonal variability are then presented, which controls in particular the onset of these two monsoon systems. Then the sensitivity of these two monsoon systems to oceanic and continental surface conditions in the context of interannual variability is discussed and compared. Consequences in term of predictability are commented. Finally, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC4) scenarios of the future climate over these two regions are presented.     

Recent trends in sea surface temperature off Mexico

Changes in global mean sea surface temperature may have potential negative implications for natural and socioeconomic systems; however, measurements to predict trends in different regions have been limited and sometimes contradictory. In this study, an assessment of sea surface temperature change signals in the seas off Mexico is presented and compared to other regions and the world ocean, and to selected basin scale climatic indices of the North Pacific, the Atlantic and the tropical Pacific variability. We identified eight regions with different exposure to climate variability: In the Pacific, the west coast of the Baja California peninsula with mostly no trend, the Gulf of California with a modest cooling trend during the last 20 to 25 years, the oceanic area with the most intense recent cooling trend, the southern part showing an intense warming trend, and a band of no trend setting the boundary between North-Pacific and tropical-Pacific variability patterns; in the Atlantic, the northeast Gulf of Mexico shows cooling, while the western Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean have been warming for more than three decades. Potential interactions with fisheries and coastal sensitive ecosystems are discussed.     

H1事件时长江下游地区季风降水变化特征的石笋铀元素记录

Heinrich 1（H1）事件是末次冰期向全新世转变过程中,北高纬大冰盖快速崩塌的冰盖不稳定事件,其气候环境影响深远。东亚地区石笋δ18O记录在H1事件时,普遍正偏至冰期的较大值,此正偏值通常指示东亚季风整体减弱。然而,在长江中游地区反映局地水文变化的石笋微量元素和碳同位素记录,显示在H1事件时梅雨量增加。梅雨与东亚季风强度的反相关关系是否存在,这有待更多记录的验证与支持。基于长江下游梅雨区南京葫芦洞石笋铀元素的水文变化特征,发现在H1事件时,梅雨整体增多。在H1事件内部结构特征上,高分辨率石笋δ18O记录显示,以~16.1 ka B.P.为界,东亚季风强度存在两个不同状态,类似的转变过程在铀元素记录中有所体现,表现为梅雨量由低到高的转变特征。石笋δ18O记录的这一季风强度变化过程在20年内完成,铀元素记录尽管分辨率不高,但也表现为快速转变的特征。这种对应的快速转变过程,表明石笋铀元素对东亚季风大气环流变化的积极响应;另一方面,也证实了铀元素对气候环境变化的有效记录。南京葫芦洞石笋铀元素记录了梅雨在长江下游地区H1事件期间增强的特征,进一步支持了梅雨与季风强度变化的反相关关系,提供了中国季风区降水空间差异的东部记录。     

Pacific coral oxygen isotope and the tropospheric temperature gradient over the Asian monsoon region: a tool to reconstruct past Indian summer monsoon rainfall

Having recognized that it is the tropospheric temperature (TT) gradient rather than the land–ocean surface temperature gradient that drives the Indian monsoon, a new mechanism of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) monsoon teleconnection has been unveiled in which the ENSO influences the Indian monsoon by modifying the TT gradient over the region. Here we show that equatorial Pacific coralline oxygen isotopes reflect TT gradient variability over the Indian monsoon region and are strongly correlated to monsoon precipitation as well as to the length of the rainy season. Using these relationships we have been able to reconstruct past Indian monsoon rainfall variability of the first half of the 20th century in agreement with the instrumental record. Additionally, an older coral oxygen isotope record has been used to reconstruct seasonally resolved summer monsoon rainfall variability of the latter half of the 17th century, indicating that the average annual rainfall during this period was similar to that during the 20th century. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global warming and South Indian monsoon rainfall—lessons from the Mid-Miocene

Precipitation over India is driven by the Indian monsoon. Although changes in this atmospheric circulation are caused by the differential seasonal diabatic heating of Asia and the Indo-Pacific Ocean, it is so far unknown how global warming influences the monsoon rainfalls regionally. Herein, we present a Miocene pollen flora as the first direct proxy for monsoon over southern India during the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum. To identify climatic key parameters, such as mean annual temperature, warmest month temperature, coldest month temperature, mean annual precipitation, mean precipitation during the driest month, mean precipitation during the wettest month and mean precipitation during the warmest month the Coexistence Approach is applied. Irrespective of a ~ 3–4 °C higher global temperature during the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum, the results indicate a modern-like monsoonal precipitation pattern contrasting marine proxies which point to a strong decline of Indian monsoon in the Himalaya at this time. Therefore, the strength of monsoon rainfall in tropical India appears neither to be related to global warming nor to be linked with the atmospheric conditions over the Tibetan Plateau. For the future it implies that increased global warming does not necessarily entail changes in the South Indian monsoon rainfall.     

Trends and extreme value analysis of rainfall pattern over homogeneous monsoon regions of India

Trends of pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon rainfall pattern were studied on decadal basis over different homogeneous monsoon regions in India for the period 1871–2008. It is attempted to understand the relation of monsoon rainfall with the global teleconnections of El Niño and La Niña, for which the correlation analysis has been carried out with Darwin pressure and Niño 3.4 sea surface temperature (Niño 3.4 SST). The correlation analysis inferred that the significant correlations were observed when monsoon rainfall is related to ENSO indices on decadal scale than on annual ones. The study also found that the north-west region is more affected by the moderate El Niño years compared to strong El Niño years. The regions Central North-East and North-East could not make any difference among weak, moderate and strong La Niña events. The authors also have carried out the extreme value analysis over different homogeneous monsoon regions of India as well as for whole India. The results show that the return values of rainfall are increasing with the return periods for the forthcoming 10, 20, 50 and 100 years. The heterogeneity in number of threshold years that were recorded for the extreme rainfall over north-east (humid climatic type) and north-west (arid climatic type) described the climate variability. The results of the present study may be useful for the policy makers in understanding the rainfall exceedance in different return periods for planning the risk management strategies.