Global Warming and the Greenland Ice Sheet

The Greenland coastal temperatures have followed the early 20th century global warming trend. Since 1940, however, the Greenland coastal stations data have undergone predominantly a cooling trend. At the summit of the Greenland ice sheet the summer average temperature has decreased at the rate of 2.2 °C per decade since the beginning of the measurements in 1987. This suggests that the Greenland ice sheet and coastal regions are not following the current global warming trend. A considerable and rapid warming over all of coastal Greenland occurred in the 1920s when the average annual surface air temperature rose between 2 and 4 °C in less than ten years (at some stations the increase in winter temperature was as high as 6 °C). This rapid warming, at a time when the change in anthropogenic production of greenhouse gases was well below the current level, suggests a high natural variability in the regional climate. High anticorrelations (r = ?0.84 to?0.93) between the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) index and Greenland temperature time series suggest a physical connection between these processes. Therefore, the future changes in the NAO and Northern Annular Mode may be of critical consequence to the future temperature forcing of the Greenland ice sheet melt rates.     

Climate Variability and Change: Past, Present and Future – An Overview

Prior to the 20th century Northern Hemisphere average surface air temperatures have varied in the order of 0.5 ^°C back to AD 1000. Various climate reconstructions indicate that slow cooling took place until the beginning of the 20th century. Subsequently, global-average surface air temperature increased by about 0.6 °C with the 1990s being the warmest decade on record. The pattern of warming has been greatest over mid-latitude northern continents in the latter part of the century. At the same time the frequency of air frosts has decreased over many land areas, and there has been a drying in the tropics and sub-tropics. The late 20th century changes have been attributed to global warming because of increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations due to human activities. Underneath these trends is that of decadal scale variability in the Pacific basin at least induced by the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), which causes decadal changes in climate averages. On interannnual timescales El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) causes much variability throughout many tropical and subtropical regions and some mid-latitude areas. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) provides climate perturbations over Europe and northern Africa. During the course of the 21st century global-average surface temperatures are very likely to increase by 2 to 4.5 ^°C as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere increase. At the same time there will be changes in precipitation, and climate extremes such as hot days, heavy rainfall and drought are expected to increase in many areas. The combination of global warming, superimposed on decadal climate variability (IPO) and interannual fluctuations (ENSO, NAO) are expected lead to a century of increasing climate variability and change that will be unprecedented in the history of human settlement. Although the changes of the past and present have stressed food and fibre production at times, the 21st century changes will be extremely challenging to agriculture and forestry.     

Simulation of the influence of solar radiation variations on the global climate with an ocean-atmosphere general circulation model

 Two simulations with a global coupled ocean-atmosphere circulation model have been carried out to study the potential impact of solar variability on climate. The Hoyt and Schatten estimate of solar variability from 1700 to 1992 has been used to force the model. Results indicate that the near-surface temperature simulated by the model is dominated by the long periodic solar fluctuations (Gleissberg cycle), with global mean temperatures varying by about 0.5 K. Further results indicate that solar variability and an increase in greenhouse gases both induce to a first approximation a comparable pattern of surface temperature change, i.e., an increase of the land-sea contrast. However, the solar-induced warming pattern in annual means and summer is more centered over the subtropics, compared to a more uniform warming associated with the increase in greenhouse gases. The observed temperature rise over the most recent 30 and 100 years is larger than the trend in the solar forcing simulation during the same period, indicating a strong likelihood that, if the model forcing and response is realistic, other factors have contributed to the observed warming. Since the pattern of the recent observed warming agrees better with the greenhouse warming pattern than with the solar variability response, it is likely that one of these factors is the increase of the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration. Received: 14 October 1996 / Accepted: 9 May 1997     

Long-term variability of temperature and precipitation in the Czech Lands: an attribution analysis

Among the key problems associated with the study of climate variability and its evolution are identification of the factors responsible for observed changes and quantification of their effects. Here, correlation and regression analysis are employed to detect the imprints of selected natural forcings (solar and volcanic activity) and anthropogenic influences (amounts of greenhouse gases—GHGs—and atmospheric aerosols), as well as prominent climatic oscillations (Southern Oscillation—SO, North Atlantic Oscillation—NAO, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation—AMO) in the Czech annual and monthly temperature and precipitation series for the 1866–2010 period. We show that the long-term evolution of Czech temperature change is dominated by the influence of an increasing concentration of anthropogenic GHGs (explaining most of the observed warming), combined with substantially lower, and generally statistically insignificant, contributions from the sulphate aerosols (mild cooling) and variations in solar activity (mild warming), but with no distinct imprint from major volcanic eruptions. A significant portion of the observed short-term temperature variability can be linked to the influence of NAO. The contributions from SO and AMO are substantially weaker in magnitude. Aside from NAO, no major influence from the explanatory variables was found in the precipitation series. Nonlinear forms of regression were used to test for nonlinear interactions between the predictors and temperature/precipitation; the nonlinearities disclosed were, however, very weak, or not detectable at all. In addition to the outcomes of the attribution analysis for the Czech series, results for European and global land temperatures are also shown and discussed.     

气候变化国家评估报告(Ⅰ):中国气候变化的历史和未来趋势

The climate change in China shows a considerable similarity to the global change, though there still exist some significant differences between them. In the context of the global warming, the annual mean surface air temperature in the country as a whole has significantly increased for the past 50 years and 100 years, with the range of temperature increase slightly greater than that in the globe. The change in precipitation trends for the last 50 and 100 years was not significant, but since 1956 it has assumed a weak increasing trend. The frequency and intensity of main extreme weather and climate events have also undergone a significant change. The researches show that the atmospheric CO2 concentration in China has continuously increased and the sum of positive radiative forcings produced by greenhouse gases is probably responsible for the country-wide climate warming for the past 100 years, especially for the past 50 years. The projections of climate change for the 21st century using global and regional climate models indicate that, in the future 20-100 years, the surface air temperature will continue to increase and the annual precipitation also has an increasing trend for most parts of the country.     

青海省气候变化的区域性差异及其成因研究

 利用1961-2006年青海不同区域气象资料,分析了年平均气温,年平均最低、最高气温和降水量等气候要素的变化趋势、年代际变化和气候突变前后的差异性,分析了气候显著变化并存在明显区域性差异的可能归因。结果表明：近46 a来青海不同区域年平均气温均呈现出显著上升趋势,其中以柴达木盆地增暖最为明显,气候倾向率达0.44℃/10a;降水量变化表现出明显的区域性差异,柴达木盆地年降水量显著增多,气候倾向率为6.67 mm/10a,而东部农业区年降水量则呈现出减少趋势。温室气体浓度的显著增加、云量变化、高空水汽输送的变化以及下垫面状况差异等因素是造成青海气候显著变化并具有明显区域性特征的可能成因。     

Future impact of anthropogenic sulfate aerosol on North Atlantic climate

We examine the simulated future change of the North Atlantic winter climate influenced by anthropogenic greenhouses gases and sulfate aerosol. Two simulations performed with the climate model ECHAM4/OPYC3 are investigated: a simulation forced by greenhouse gases and a simulation forced by greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosol. Only the direct aerosol effect on the clear-sky radiative fluxes is considered. The sulfate aerosol has a significant impact on temperature, radiative quantities, precipitation and atmospheric dynamics. Generally, we find a similar, but weaker future climate response if sulfate aerosol is considered additionally. Due to the induced negative top-of-the-atmosphere radiative forcing, the future warming is attenuated. We find no significant future trends in North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index in both simulations. However, the aerosol seems to have a balancing effect on the occurence of extreme NAO events. The simulated correlation patterns of the NAO index with temperature and precipitation, respectively, agree well with observations up to the present. The extent of the regions influenced by the NAO tends to be reduced under strong greenhouse gas forcing. If sulfate is included and the warming is smaller, this tendency is reversed. Also, the future decrease in baroclinicity is smaller due to the aerosols’ cooling effect and the poleward shift in track density is partly offset. Our findings imply that in simulations where aerosol cooling is neglected, the magnitude of the future warming over the North Atlantic region is overestimated, and correlation patterns differ from those based on the future simulation including aerosols.     

全球变暖趋缓研究进展

近十几年来,全球年平均表面温度上升趋势显示出停滞状态,即全球变暖趋缓,这引起了国际社会的广泛关注,同时也引发了对全球变暖的质疑,各国气候学家正努力就全球变暖趋缓的事实、原因及其可能影响展开研究。本文综述了目前国内外对全球变暖趋缓的研究结果。多数科学家认可近十几年来全球变暖停滞的事实,并认为太阳活动处于低位相、大气气溶胶（自然和人为）增加以及海洋吸收热量是变暖停滞的可能影响因子,其中海洋（尤其是700米以下的深海）对热量的储存可能是变暖停滞的关键。国际耦合模式比较计划第5阶段中的模式并未精确地描述各种有利降温影响因子的近期位相演变,因而其模拟的近期增暖趋势较观测偏强。由此推断,变暖停滞主要是自然因素造成的,并且预测变暖趋缓将在近几年或几十年内结束（依赖于太平洋年代际振荡的位相转变）,未来气温将仍主要受到温室气体增加的影响而表现出明显的上升趋势。因此,目前的全球变暖趋缓不大可能改变到本世纪末全球大幅度变暖带来的风险。本综述展望未来的研究热点包括:精确估算全球气温和海洋热含量的变率及其不确定性,海洋年代际信号（太平洋以及大西洋的年代际振荡）的转型机制,存储在深海的热量将在何时返回海洋表面及其对区域气候的潜在影响。     

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

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

The impact of decadal fluctuations in mean precipitation and temperature on runoff: A sensitivity study over the United States

The nature of climate variability is such that decadal fluctuations in average temperature (up to 1 °C annually or 2 °C seasonally) and precipitation (approximately 10% annually), have occurred in most areas of the United States during the modern climate record (the last 60 years). The impact of these fluctuations on runoff was investigated, using data from 82 streams across the United States that had minimal human interference in natural flows. The effects of recent temperature fluctuations on streamflow are minimal, but the impact of relatively small fluctuations in precipitation (about 10%) are often amplified by a factor of two or more, depending on basin and climate characteristics. This result is particularly significant with respect to predicted changes in temperature due to the greenhouse effect. It appears that without reliable predictions of precipitation changes across drainage basins, little confidence can be placed in hypothesized effects of the warming on annual runoff.     

Climate Change of 4℃ Global Warming above Pre-industrial Levels

Using a set of numerical experiments from 39 CMIP5 climate models, we project the emergence time for 4?C global warming with respect to pre-industrial levels and associated climate changes under the RCP8.5 greenhouse gas concentration scenario. Results show that, according to the 39 models, the median year in which 4?C global warming will occur is 2084.Based on the median results of models that project a 4?C global warming by 2100, land areas will generally exhibit stronger warming than the oceans annually and seasonally, and the strongest enhancement occurs in the Arctic, with the exception of the summer season. Change signals for temperature go outside its natural internal variabilities globally, and the signal-tonoise ratio averages 9.6 for the annual mean and ranges from 6.3 to 7.2 for the seasonal mean over the globe, with the greatest values appearing at low latitudes because of low noise. Decreased precipitation generally occurs in the subtropics, whilst increased precipitation mainly appears at high latitudes. The precipitation changes in most of the high latitudes are greater than the background variability, and the global mean signal-to-noise ratio is 0.5 and ranges from 0.2 to 0.4 for the annual and seasonal means, respectively. Attention should be paid to limiting global warming to 1.5?C, in which case temperature and precipitation will experience a far more moderate change than the natural internal variability. Large inter-model disagreement appears at high latitudes for temperature changes and at mid and low latitudes for precipitation changes. Overall, the intermodel consistency is better for temperature than for precipitation.     

Detectability of Summer Dryness Caused by Greenhouse Warming

This study investigates the temporal and spatial variation of soil moisture associated with global warming as simulated by long-term integrations of a coupled ocean-atmosphere model conducted earlier. Starting from year 1765, integrations of the coupled model for 300 years were performed for three scenarios: increasing greenhouse gases only, increasing sulfate-aerosol loading only and the combination of both radiative forcings. The integration with the combined radiative forcings reproduces approximately the observed increases of global mean surface air temperature during the 20th century. Analysis of this integration indicates that both summer dryness and winter wetness occur in middle-to-high latitudes of North America and southern Europe. These features were identified in earlier studies. However, in the southern part of North America where the percentage reduction of soil moisture during summer is quite large, soil moisture is decreased for nearly the entire annual cycle in response to greenhouse warming. A similar observation applies to other semi-arid regions in subtropical to middle latitudes such as central Asia and the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. On the other hand, annual mean runoff is greatly increased in high latitudes because of increased poleward transport of moisture in the warmer model atmosphere. An analysis of the central North American and southern European regions indicates that the time when the change of soil moisture exceeds one standard deviation about the control integration occurs considerably later than that of surface air temperature for a given experiment because the ratio of forced change to natural variability is much smaller for soil moisture compared with temperature. The corresponding lag time for runoff change is even greater than that of either precipitation or soil moisture for the same reason. Also according to the above criterion, the inclusion of the effect of sulfate aerosols in the greenhouse warming experiment delays the noticeable change of soil moisture by several decades. It appears that observed surface air temperature is a better indicator of greenhouse warming than hydrologic quantities such as precipitation, runoff and soil moisture. Therefore, we are unlikely to notice definitive CO₂-induced continental summer dryness until several decades into the 21st century.     

Climate Change of 4°C Global Warming above Pre-industrial Levels

Using a set of numerical experiments from 39 CMIP5 climate models, we project the emergence time for 4°C global warming with respect to pre-industrial levels and associated climate changes under the RCP8.5 greenhouse gas concentration scenario. Results show that, according to the 39 models, the median year in which 4°C global warming will occur is 2084. Based on the median results of models that project a 4°C global warming by 2100, land areas will generally exhibit stronger warming than the oceans annually and seasonally, and the strongest enhancement occurs in the Arctic, with the exception of the summer season. Change signals for temperature go outside its natural internal variabilities globally, and the signal-to-noise ratio averages 9.6 for the annual mean and ranges from 6.3 to 7.2 for the seasonal mean over the globe, with the greatest values appearing at low latitudes because of low noise. Decreased precipitation generally occurs in the subtropics, whilst increased precipitation mainly appears at high latitudes. The precipitation changes in most of the high latitudes are greater than the background variability, and the global mean signal-to-noise ratio is 0.5 and ranges from 0.2 to 0.4 for the annual and seasonal means, respectively. Attention should be paid to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, in which case temperature and precipitation will experience a far more moderate change than the natural internal variability. Large inter-model disagreement appears at high latitudes for temperature changes and at mid and low latitudes for precipitation changes. Overall, the inter-model consistency is better for temperature than for precipitation.     

Interpretation of recent temperature and precipitationtrends observed in Korea

Summary  The possibility of climate change in the Korean Peninsula has been examined in view of the general increase in greenhouse gases. Analyses include changes in annual temperature and precipitation. These analyses are supplemented with our observations regarding the apparent decrease of forest areas. It was found that there was a 0.96 °C (0.42 °C per decade) increase in annual mean temperature between 1974 and 1997. The increase in large cities was 1.5 °C but only 0.58 °C at rural and marine stations. The difference in the mean temperature between large cities and rural stations was small from 1974 to 1981. However, the difference increased from 1982 to 1997. In particular, the warming appears most significant in winter. Prior to 1982, the lowest temperatures were often −18 °C in central Korea, and since then the lowest temperatures have been only −12∼−14 °C. Recently, the minimum January temperature has increased at a rate of 1.5 °C per decade. It is estimated that the increase of1 °C in annual mean temperature corresponds to about a 250 km northward shift of the subtropical zone boundary. The analysis of data from 1906 to 1997 indicates a trend of increasing annual precipitation, an increase of 182 mm during the 92-year peirod, with large year-to-year variations. More than half of the annual mean amount, 1,274 mm, occurred from June to September. Meteorological data and satellite observations suggest that changes have occurred in the characteristics of the quasi-stationary fronts that produce summer rain. In recent years scattered local heavy showers usually occur with an inactive showery front, in comparison with the classical steady rain for more than three weeks. For instance, local heavy rainfall, on 6 August 1998 was in the range of 123–481 mm. The scattered convective storms resulted in flooding with a heavy toll of approx. 500 people. The northward shift of the inactive showery front over Korea, and of a convergence zone in central China, correlate with the increase in temperature. It has been suggested that the decrease in forest areas and the change in ground cover also contribute to the warming of the Korean Peninsula. Received March 16, 2000     

Characteristics,and similarities and differences of climate change in major high mountains in the world-comprehensive interpretation of IPCC AR6 WGI report and SROCC北大核心CSCD

IPCC SROCC和AR6对高山区气候变化的评估表明,近期全球山地增暖速率提高,1980年代以来亚洲高山区增暖速率明显高于全球平均和其他高山区同期水平。各山地增暖普遍具有海拔依赖性,但机制复杂且区域差异大,除落基山脉未来气温增幅随海拔降低外,其余山地均随海拔有不同程度的升高。全球山地年降水在过去几十年没有明显趋势;预计未来北半球许多山地年降水将增加5%~20%,但极端降水变化的区域和季节差异较大,其中青藏高原喜马拉雅山脉极端降水频次和强度都将增大。山地年最大雪水当量的减少在固-液态降水转化的海拔高度带更强,未来山地降雪和积雪变化不仅与排放情景有关,而且与海拔高度密切相关。2010—2019年全球山地冰川物质亏损较有观测记录以来的任何一个10年都多,亚洲高山区虽然冰川物质亏损速率较小,但每年亏损的冰量在全球四大高山区中仅次于安第斯山脉南段。预计山地冰川将持续退缩数十年或数百年,未来亚洲高山区冰川退缩对海平面上升的贡献将居全球四大高山区之首。山地多年冻土温度升高、厚度减薄,预计未来多年冻土将加速退化,即使在低温室气体排放情景下,21世纪末青藏高原多年冻土面积预计也将减少13.4%~27.7%。从评估的完整性和信度水平来看,山地观测和研究仍存在巨大差距。     

气候变化的归因与预估模拟研究

本文总结了近五年来中国科学院大气物理研究所在气候变暖的归因模拟与预估研究上的主要进展。研究表明,利用海温、太阳辐射和温室气体等实际强迫因子驱动大气环流模式,能够较为合理地模拟全球平均地表气温在20世纪的演变,但是难以模拟出包括北大西洋涛动／北极涛动和南极涛动在内的高纬度环流的长期变化趋势。利用温室气体和硫酸盐气溶胶等“历史资料”驱动气候系统模式,能够较好地模拟出20世纪后期的全球增暖,但如果要再现20世纪前期(1940年代)的变暖,还需同时考虑太阳辐射等自然外强迫因子。20世纪中国气温演变的耦合模式模拟技巧,较之全球平均情况要低;中国气候在1920年代的变暖机理目前尚不清楚。对于近50年中国东部地区“南冷北暖”、“南涝北旱”的气候变化,基于大气环流模式特别是区域气候模式的数值试验表明,夏季硫酸盐气溶胶的负辐射效应超过了温室气体的增暖效应,从而对变冷产生贡献。但现有的数值模拟证据,不足以说明气溶胶增加对“南涝北旱”型降水异常有贡献。20世纪中期以来,青藏高原主体存在明显增温趋势,温室气体浓度的增加对这种增暖有显著贡献。多模式集合预估的未来气候变化表明,21世纪全球平均温度将继续增暖,增温幅度因不同排放情景而异;中国大陆年均表面气温的增暖与全球同步,但增幅在东北、西部和华中地区较大,冬季升温幅度高于夏季、日最低温度升幅要强于日最高温度;全球增暖有可能对我国中东部植被的地理分布产生影响。伴随温室气体增加所导致的夏季平均温度升高,极端温度事件增多;在更暖的气候背景下,中国大部分地区总降水将增多,极端降水强度加大且更频繁发生,极端降水占总降水的比例也将增大。全球增暖有可能令大洋热盐环流减弱,但是减弱的幅度因模式而异。全球增暖可能不是导致北太平洋副热带－热带经圈环流自20世纪70年代以来变弱的原因。文章同时指出了模式预估结果中存在的不确定性。     

A multiproxy reconstruction of spring temperatures in south-west Finland since 1750

Spring temperatures were reconstructed by multiproxy database for south-west Finland since 1750. Proxy records used here were ice break-up in the Aurajoki River, the Baltic Sea ice extent, the plant phenological index and the annual varve thickness in the Pyhäjärvi Lake. Records were integrated into one palaeoclimate model using time-scale dependent calibration techniques. Reconstruction was verified with statistics showing a high degree of validation between the reconstructed and observed temperatures in Turku, south-west Finland. Reconstruction demonstrates that the springs have become warmer and reveals a warming trend since 1850s. Except for the period from 1750 to around 1850, the springs have been characterized as having a larger low-frequency variability, as well as by having a smaller range of annual temperature variations. Analyses of decadal variations revealed that the coldest springtimes occurred in the 1840s and 1850s and the first decade of the 19th century. Reconstruction was compared with the available meteorological series of central England, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Uppsala and the spring-temperature reconstruction from western Norway. The effect of global solar, volcanic, greenhouse gases and aerosol forcings were examined together with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) indices at local scale over the reconstructed period. Reconstructed spring-temperature changes have been related to changes in the atmospheric circulation, as indicated by the NAO (February–June).     

2℃全球变暖背景下中国未来气候变化预估

相对于工业化革命前期, 全球年平均地表气温上升2℃的时间和相应的气候变化受到了广泛关注, 特别是包括欧盟成员国在内的许多国家和国际组织已经将避免2℃全球变暖作为温室气体减排的首要目标。为此, 本文作者基于16个气候模式在20世纪气候模拟试验和SRES B1、A1B和A2温室气体和气溶胶排放情景下的数值模拟试验结果, 采用多模式集合方法预估研究了2℃全球变暖发生的时间、对应的大气中主要温室气体浓度以及中国气候变化情况。根据模式集合平均结果, 三种排放情景下2℃全球变暖分别发生在2064年、2046年和2049年, 大气二氧化碳当量浓度分别为625 ppm、645 ppm和669 ppm (1 ppm=10-6)。对应着2℃全球变暖, 中国气候变暖幅度明显更大。从空间分布形势上看, 变暖从南向北加强, 在青藏高原地区存在一个升温大值区; 就整体而言, 中国区域平均的年平均地表气温上升2.7～2.9℃, 冬季升温幅度 (3.1～3.2℃) 要较其他季节更大。年平均降水量在华南大部分地区减少0～5%, 而在其余地区增加0～20%, 中国区域年平均降水增加3.4%～4.4%, 各季节增加量在0.5%～6.6%之间。     

Present-day and future Amazonian precipitation in global climate models: CMIP5 versus CMIP3

The present study aims at evaluating and comparing precipitation over the Amazon in two sets of historical and future climate simulations based on phase 3 (CMIP3) and 5 (CMIP5) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Thirteen models have been selected in order to discuss (1) potential improvements in the simulation of present-day climate and (2) the potential reduction in the uncertainties of the model response to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases. While several features of present-day precipitation—including annual cycle, spatial distribution and co variability with tropical sea surface temperature (SST)—have been improved, strong uncertainties remain in the climate projections. A closer comparison between CMIP5 and CMIP3 highlights a weaker consensus on increased precipitation during the wet season, but a stronger consensus on a drying and lengthening of the dry season. The latter response is related to a northward shift of the boreal summer intertropical convergence zone in CMIP5, in line with a more asymmetric warming between the northern and southern hemispheres. The large uncertainties that persist in the rainfall response arise from contrasted anomalies in both moisture convergence and evapotranspiration. They might be related to the diverse response of tropical SST and ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) variability, as well as to spurious behaviours among the models that show the most extreme response. Model improvements of present-day climate do not necessarily translate into more reliable projections and further efforts are needed for constraining the pattern of the SST response and the soil moisture feedback in global climate scenarios.     

Climate changes in the Amur River basin in the last 115 years

Tendencies in climate change in the Amur River basin are generally synchronous to the global ones. During the last century, the annual mean temperature of surface air increased by 1.3°C, minimum warming being observed in the east part of the basin (0.6°C) and maximum one in the west part (1.7–2.5°C). The largest impact on the annual mean temperature growth comes from winter and spring temperature increase (2–4°C/100 years). During the last 30 years, the warming rate in the basin was 2–3 times higher than during the whole period of 1891–2004. Simultaneously with warming in the Amur River basin, annual and warm-season precipitation totals increased by 8 and 6%, respectively, during the 115-year period. The highest increase in precipitation totals occurs in cold season (29% during 115 years). During the last 30 years, together with intense warming in the Amur River basin, the annual precipitation totals are found to decrease by an average of 2.1%/10 years.