Statistical Downscaling of FGOALS-s2 Projected Precipitation in Eastern China

A statistical regression downscaling method was used to project future changes in precipitation over eastern China based on Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project （CMIPS） the Representative Concentration Pathway （RCP） scenarios simulated by the second spectral version of the Flexible Global Ocean- Atmosphere-Land System （FGOALS-s2） model. Our val- idation results show that the downscaled time series agree well with the present observed precipitation in terms of both the annual mean and the seasonal cycle. The regres- sion models built from the historical data are then used to generate future projections. The results show that the en- hanced land-sea thermal contrast strengthens both the subtropical anticyclone over the western Pacific and the east Asian summer monsoon flow under both RCPs. However, the trend of precipitation in response to warming over the 21 st century are different across eastern Chi- na under different RCPs. The area to the north of 32°N is likely to experience an increase in annual mean precipitation, while for the area between 23°N and 32°N mean precipitation is projected to decrease slightly over this century under RCP8.5. The change difference between scenarios mainly exists in the middle and late century. The land-sea thermal contrast and the associated east Asian summer monsoon flow are stronger, such that precipitation increases more, at higher latitudes under RCP8.5 compared to under RCP4.5. For the region south of 32°N, rainfall is projected to increase slightly under RCP4.5 but decrease under RCP8.5 in the late century. At the high resolution of 5 km, our statistically downscaled results for projected precipitation can be used to force hydrological models to project hydrological processes, which will be of great benefit to regional water planning and management.     

Projected Climate Change against Natural Internal Variability over China

The ability of 42 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5) models in simulating the annual and seasonal temperature and precipitation over China is first examined by using their historical experiments for 1986–2005, and then 39 relatively reliable models are chosen to project temperature and precipitation changes against the natural internal variability over the country under the Representative Concentration Pathways(RCP) scenarios in the 21 st century. The result shows the temperature continuing to increase, especially in northern China. The annual warming for 2081–2099 relative to 1986–2005 over the whole of the country is larger than the background variability, with the multimodel median changes under RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5 being 9.9, 19.3, 22.8, and 35.9 times greater than one standard deviation of internal variability, respectively. The annual precipitation is projected to increase by 6.1%, 9.3%, 9.6%, and 16.2% for 2081–2099 relative to 1986–2005 under RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5 respectively, while large changes with high model agreement only occur over the northern Tibetan Plateau and Northeast China, which is mainly due to the robust changes in winter and spring under RCP6.0 and RCP8.5.     

Using Statistical Downscaling to Quantify the GCM-Related Uncertainty in Regional Climate Change Scenarios： A Case Study of Swedish Precipitation

There are a number of sources of uncertainty in regional climate change scenarios. When statistical downscaling is used to obtain regional climate change scenarios, the uncertainty may originate from the uncertainties in the global climate models used, the skill of the statistical model, and the forcing scenarios applied to the global climate model. The uncertainty associated with global climate models can be evaluated by examining the differences in the predictors and in the downscaled climate change scenarios based on a set of different global climate models. When standardized global climate model simulations such as the second phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project （CMIP2） are used, the difference in the downscaled variables mainly reflects differences in the climate models and the natural variability in the simulated climates. It is proposed that the spread of the estimates can be taken as a measure of the uncertainty associated with global climate models. The proposed method is applied to the estimation of global-climate-model-related uncertainty in regional precipitation change scenarios in Sweden. Results from statistical downscaling based on 17 global climate models show that there is an overall increase in annual precipitation all over Sweden although a considerable spread of the changes in the precipitation exists. The general increase can be attributed to the increased large-scale precipitation and the enhanced westerly wind. The estimated uncertainty is nearly independent of region. However, there is a seasonal dependence. The estimates for winter show the highest level of confidence, while the estimates for summer show the least.     

How the “Best” Models Project the Future Precipitation Change in China

Projected changes in summer precipitation characteristics in China during the 21st century are assessed using the monthly precipitation outputs of the ensemble of three “best” models under the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A1B, A2, and B1 scenarios. The excellent reproducibility of the models both in spatial and temporal patterns for the precipitation in China makes the projected summer precipitation change more believable for the future 100 years. All the three scenarios experiments indicate a consistent enhancement of summer precipitation in China in the 21st century. However, the projected summer precipitation in China demonstrates large variability between sub-regions. The projected increase in precipitation in South China is significant and persistent, as well as in North China. Meanwhile, in the early period of the 21st century, the region of Northeast China is projected to be much drier than the present. But, this situation changes and the precipitation intensifies later, with a precipitation anomaly increase of 12.4%–20.4% at the end of the 21st century. The region of the Xinjiang Province probably undergoes a drying trend in the future 100 years, and is projected to decrease by 1.7%–3.6% at the end of the 21st century. There is no significant long-term change of the projected summer precipitation in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley. A high level of agreement of the ensemble of the regional precipitation change in some parts of China is found across scenarios but smaller changes are projected for the B1 scenario and slightly larger changes for the A2 scenario.     

Statistical Downscaling Based on Dynamically DownscaledPredictors： Application to Monthly Precipitation in Sweden

A prerequisite of a successful statistical downscaling is that large-scale predictors simulated by the General Circulation Model (GCM) must be realistic. It is assumed here that features smaller than the GCM resolution are important in determining the realism of the large-scale predictors. It is tested whether a three-step method can improve conventional one-step statistical downscaling. The method uses predictors that are upscaled from a dynamical downscaling instead of predictors taken directly from a GCM simulation. The method is applied to downscaling of monthly precipitation in Sweden. The statistical model used is a multiple regression model that uses indices of large-scale atmospheric circulation and 850-hPa specific humidity as predictors. Data from two GCMs (HadCM2 and ECHAM4) and two RCM experiments of the Rossby Centre model (RCA1) driven by the GCMs are used. It is found that upscaled RCA1 predictors capture the seasonal cycle better than those from the GCMs, and hence increase the reliability of the downscaled precipitation. However, there are only slight improvements in the simulation of the seasonal cycle of downscaled precipitation. Due to the cost of the method and the limited improvements in the downscaling results, the three-step method is not justified to replace the one-step method for downscaling of Swedish precipitation.     

A New Statistical Downscaling Scheme for Predicting Winter Precipitation in China

An effective statistical downscaling scheme was developed on the basis of singular value decomposition to predict boreal winter(December-January-February)precipitation over China.The variable geopotential height at 500 hPa(GH5)over East Asia,which was obtained from National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s Coupled Forecast System(NCEP CFS),was used as one predictor for the scheme.The preceding sea ice concentration(SIC)signal obtained from observed data over high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere was chosen as an additional predictor.This downscaling scheme showed significantly improvement in predictability over the original CFS general circulation model(GCM)output in cross validation.The multi-year average spatial anomaly correlation coefficient increased from–0.03 to 0.31,and the downscaling temporal root-mean-square-error(RMSE)decreased significantly over that of the original CFS GCM for most China stations.Furthermore,large precipitation anomaly centers were reproduced with greater accuracy in the downscaling scheme than those in the original CFS GCM,and the anomaly correlation coefficient between the observation and downscaling results reached～0.6 in the winter of 2008.     

The Projection of Temperature and Precipitation over China under RCP Scenarios using a CMIP5 Multi-Model Ensemble

Climate changes in 21st century China are described based on the projections of 11 climate models under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios. The results show that warming is expected in all regions of China under the RCP scenarios, with the northern regions showing greater warming than the southern regions. The warming tendency from 2011 to 2100 is 0.06°C/10 a for RCP2.6, 0.24°C/10 a for RCP4.5, and 0.63°C/10 a for RCP8.5. The projected time series of annual temperature have similar variation tendencies as the new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenario pathways, and the warming under the lower emission scenarios is less than under the higher emission scenarios. The regional averaged precipitation will increase, and the increasing precipitation in the northern regions is significant and greater than in the southern regions in China. It is noted that precipitation will tend to decrease in the southern parts of China during the period of 2011-2040, especially under RCP8.5. Compared with the changes over the globe and some previous projections, the increased warming and precipitation over China is more remarkable under the higher emission scenarios. The uncertainties in the projection are unavoidable, and further analyses are necessary to develop a better understanding of the future changes over the region.     

Multi-model projection of July�CAugust climate extreme changes over China under CO2 doubling. Part I: Precipitation

Potential changes in precipitation extremes in July–August over China in response to CO 2 doubling are analyzed based on the output of 24 coupled climate models from the Twentieth-Century Climate in Coupled Models (20C3M) experiment and the 1% per year CO 2 increase experiment (to doubling) (1pctto2x) of phase 3 of the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project (CMIP3). Evaluation of the models’ performance in simulating the mean state shows that the majority of models fairly reproduce the broad spatial pattern of observed precipitation. However, all the models underestimate extreme precipitation by ～50%. The spread among the models over the Tibetan Plateau is ～2–3 times larger than that over the other areas. Models with higher resolution generally perform better than those with lower resolutions in terms of spatial pattern and precipitation amount. Under the 1pctto2x scenario, the ratio between the absolute value of MME extreme precipitation change and model spread is larger than that of total precipitation, indicating a relatively robust change of extremes. The change of extreme precipitation is more homogeneous than the total precipitation. Analysis on the output of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory coupled climate model version 2.1 (GFDL-CM2.1) indicates that the spatially consistent increase of surface temperature and water vapor content contribute to the large increase of extreme precipitation over contiguous China, which follows the Clausius–Clapeyron relationship. Whereas, the meridionally tri-polar pattern of mean precipitation change over eastern China is dominated by the change of water vapor convergence, which is determined by the response of monsoon circulation to global warming.     

Changes of Precipitation Intensity Spectra in Different Regions of Mainland China During 1961-2006

The spectral characteristics of precipitation intensity during warm and cold years are compared in six regions of China based on precipitation data at 404 meteorological stations during 1961-2006.In all of the studied regions except North China,with the increasing temperature,a decreasing trend is observed in light precipitation and the number of light precipitation days,while an increasing trend appears in heavy precipitation and the heavy precipitation days.Although changes in precipitation days in North China are similar to the changes in the other five regions,heavy precipitation decreases with the increasing temperature in this region.These results indicate that in most parts of China,the amount of precipitation and number of precipitation days have shifted towards heavy precipitation under the background of a warming climate;however,the responses of precipitation distributions to global warming differ from place to place.The number of light precipitation days decreases in the warm and humid regions of China(Jianghuai region,South China,and Southwest China),while the increasing amplitude of heavy precipitation and the number of heavy precipitation days are greater in the warm and humid regions of China than that in the northern regions(North China,Northwest China,and Northeast China).In addition,changes are much more obvious in winter than in summer,indicating that the changes in the precipitation frequency are more affected by the increasing temperature during winter than summer.The shape and scale parameters of the Γ distribution of daily precipitation at most stations of China have increased under the background of global warming.The scale parameter changes are smaller than the shape parameter changes in all regions except Northwest China.This suggests that daily precipitation shifts toward heavy precipitation in China under the warming climate.The number of extreme precipitation events increases slightly,indicating that changes in the Γ distribution fitting parameters reflect changes in the regional precipitation distribution structure.     

CMIP6 Evaluation and Projection of Temperature and Precipitation over China

This article evaluates the performance of 20 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6(CMIP6)models in simulating temperature and precipitation over China through comparisons with gridded observation data for the period of 1995–2014,with a focus on spatial patterns and interannual variability.The evaluations show that the CMIP6 models perform well in reproducing the climatological spatial distribution of temperature and precipitation,with better performance for temperature than for precipitation.Their interannual variability can also be reasonably captured by most models,however,poor performance is noted regarding the interannual variability of winter precipitation.Based on the comprehensive performance for the above two factors,the“highest-ranked”models are selected as an ensemble(BMME).The BMME outperforms the ensemble of all models(AMME)in simulating annual and winter temperature and precipitation,particularly for those subregions with complex terrain but it shows little improvement for summer temperature and precipitation.The AMME and BMME projections indicate annual increases for both temperature and precipitation across China by the end of the 21st century,with larger increases under the scenario of the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 5/Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5(SSP585)than under scenario of the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2/Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5(SSP245).The greatest increases of annual temperature are projected for higher latitudes and higher elevations and the largest percentage-based increases in annual precipitation are projected to occur in northern and western China,especially under SSP585.However,the BMME,which generally performs better in these regions,projects lower changes in annual temperature and larger variations in annual precipitation when compared to the AMME projections.     

How Large Precipitation Changes over Global Monsoon Regions by CMIP5 Models?

Future changes in precipitation over global monsoon domains and their adjacent dry regions are investigated using present-day climate simulations(1986–2005)and future climate simulations under the Representative Concentration Pathways(RCP4.5)scenario by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5)models.In the present-day climate simulations,high reproducibility of the extents of global monsoon domains and dry regions is observed from the multi-model ensemble(MME)result;the associated local summer precipitation variation and its interannual variability are also successfully reproduced.In the future,the global monsoon domains are projected to be expanded,while the dry regions are expected to initially increase and then decrease.The summer precipitation and its variability show significant increases over most global monsoon domains and obvious decreases over their adjacent dry regions.These results indicate that currently wet regions will become wetter and dry areas will be dryer under global warming conditions.Further analysis indicates that changes in summer precipitation over global monsoon and dry regions can be interpreted as moisture convergence changes associated with changes in horizontal moisture transport.     

Projections of annual mean air temperature and precipitation over the globe and in China during the 21st century by the BCC Climate System Model BCC_CSM1.0

Evaluating the projection capability of climate models is an important task in climate model development and climate change studies. The projection capability of the Beijing Climate Center (BCC) Climate System Model BCC CSM1.0 is analyzed in this study. We focus on evaluating the projected annual mean air temperature and precipitation during the 21st century under three emission scenarios (Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) B1, A1B, and A2) of the BCC CSM1.0 model, along with comparisons with 22 CMIP3 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 3) climate models. Air temperature averaged both globally and within China is projected to increase continuously throughout the 21st century, while precipitation increases intermittently under each of the three emission scenarios, with some specific temporal and spatial characteristics. The changes in globally-averaged and China-averaged air temperature and precipitation simulated by the BCC CSM1.0 model are within the range of CMIP3 model results. On average, the changes of precipitation and temperature are more pronounced over China than over the globe, which is also in agreement with the CMIP3 models. The projection capability of the BCC CSM1.0 model is comparable to that of other climate system models. Furthermore, the results reveal that the climate change response to greenhouse gas emissions is stronger over China than in the global mean, which implies that China may be particularly sensitive to climate change in the 21st century.     

Projection of Future Precipitation Change over China with a High-Resolution Global Atmospheric Model

Projections of future precipitation change over China are studied based on the output of a global AGCM, ECHAM5, with a high resolution of T319 (equivalent to 40 km). Evaluation of the model’s performance in simulating present-day precipitation shows encouraging results. The spatial distributions of both mean and extreme precipitation, especially the locations of main precipitation centers, are reproduced reasonably. The simulated annual cycle of precipitation is close to the observed. The performance of the model over eastern China is generally better than that over western China. A weakness of the model is the overestimation of precipitation over northern and western China. Analyses on the potential change in precipitation projected under the A1B scenario show that both annual mean precipitation intensity and extreme precipitation would increase significantly over southeastern China. The percentage increase in extreme precipitation is larger than that of mean precipitation. Meanwhile, decreases in mean and extreme precipitation are evident over the southern Tibetan Plateau. For precipitation days, extreme precipitation days are projected to increase over all of China. Both consecutive dry days over northern China and consecutive wet days over southern China would decrease.     

Regional Climate Change and Uncertainty Analysis based on Four Regional Climate Model Simulations over China

Four sets of climate change simulations at grid spacing of 50 km were conducted over East Asia with two regional climate models driven at the lateral boundaries by two global models for the period 1981–2050. The focus of the study was on the ensemble projection of climate change in the mid-21 st century(2031–50) over China. Validation of each simulation and the ensemble average showed good performances of the models overall, as well as advantages of the ensemble in reproducing present day(1981–2000) December–February(DJF), June–August(JJA), and annual(ANN) mean temperature and precipitation. Significant warming was projected for the mid-21 st century, with larger values of temperature increase found in the northern part of China and in the cold seasons. The ensemble average changes of precipitation in DJF, JJA, and ANN were determined, and the uncertainties of the projected changes analyzed based on the consistencies of the simulations. It was concluded that the largest uncertainties in precipitation projection are in eastern China during the summer season(monsoon precipitation).     

Historical Changes and Future Projections of Extreme Temperature and Precipitation along the Sichuan–Tibet Railway

Based on multiresource high-resolution in situ and satellite merged observations along with model simulations from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment(CORDEX), this study first investigated historical changes in extreme temperature and precipitation during the period of 1979–2018 in areas along the Sichuan–Tibet Railway, and then projected the future changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme temperature and precipitation under the RCP(Representative Concentration Pathway) 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. This paper is expected to enhance our understanding of the spatiotemporal variability in the extreme temperature and precipitation along the Sichuan–Tibet Railway, and to provide scientific basis to advance the Sichuan–Tibet Railway construction and operation. The results show that temperatures in the Sichuan–Tibet region display a noticeable warming trend in the past40 years, and the increase of minimum temperature is significantly higher than that of maximum temperature in the northwest of the region. Significant increase of precipitation is found mainly over the northwest of the Tibetan Plateau. Except for Lhasa and its surrounding areas, precipitation over other areas along the Sichuan–Tibet Railway shows no significant change in the past 40 years, as indicated in five datasets; however, precipitation along the railway has shown a remarkable decrease in the past 20 years in the TRMM satellite dataset. The warm days and nights have clearly increased by 6 and 5 day decade1-for 1979–2019, while cold days and nights have markedly decreased by about 6.6 and 3.6 day decade-1, respectively. In the past 20 years, the areas with increased precipitation from very wet days and extremely wet days are mainly distributed to the north of the Sichuan–Tibet Railway, while in the areas along the railway itself, the very wet days and extremely wet days are decreasing. Under RCPs 4.5 and 8.5, the temperature in the Sichuan–Tibet region will increase significantly, and the frequency of extreme high(low) temperature events in the late 21 st century(2070–2099) will greatly increase(decrease) by about 50%–80%(10%) compared with occurrences in the late 20 th century(1970–1999). Meanwhile, the frequency of very wet days and extremely wet days in the Sichuan–Tibet region will increase by about 2%–19% and 2%–5%, respectively, and the areas along the Sichuan–Tibet Railway will be affected by more extreme high temperature and extreme precipitation events.     

Changes in Summer Persistent Precipitation over the Middle–Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River and Associated Atmospheric Circulation Patterns

Persistence is an important property of precipitation and its related impacts. However, changes in persistent precipitation and the possible underlying mechanisms in the context of global warming have not yet been discussed in sufficient depth. In this study, the changes in persistent precipitation in summer and related atmospheric circulation patterns over the middle–lower reaches of the Yangtze River(MLRYZR)—a typical monsoon region frequently hit by consecutive rainfall events—are analyzed based on observed daily precipitation and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1961 to 2019. The results reveal that persistent precipitation events(PPs) tend to happen in a more persistent way, with increased frequency and intensity in the MLRYZR region. Mechanism analyses show that persistent precipitation has happened along with simultaneous enhancement of some large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns,including the Lake Baikal blocking(BB), the Okhotsk Sea blocking(OB), and the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH). Such enhanced anomalous circulation patterns could persistently reinforce the convergence and supply of water vapor in the MLRYZR region, contributing to the increase in PPs in this region. Based on the above results, we are able to offer some new insights into the long-term changes in precipitation structure and the possible causes. This study is also expected to support attribution studies on regional precipitation changes in the future.     

Climatology of Transverse Shear Lines Related to Heavy Rainfall over the Tibetan Plateau during Boreal Summer

Based on ERA-Interim data and precipitation data of 2474 stations in China during May–October from1981 to 2013, transverse shear lines(TSLs) were identified, and their climatic characteristics and association with torrential rainfall events over the Tibetan Plateau and the region to its east during boreal summer were analyzed statistically, based on three criteria: the meridional shear of zonal wind, the relative vorticity,and the zero contour line of zonal wind. It was found that TSLs are generally west–east oriented over the Tibetan Plateau, with the highest occurrence frequency in June, and least occurrence in October. The high frequency axis of TSLs, parallel to the terrain of the Tibetan Plateau, shifts southward from May to August, and then slightly northward from September to October. The annual average TSL frequency is65.3 days, and there are obvious interannual and interdecal variations of TSLs. The annual fluctuation of TSL frequency is most distinct in the 1980 s, followed by the 2000 s, with average frequency appearing during1995–2000. It was found that the occurrence frequency of TSLs and that of heavy rainfall events over the Tibetan Plateau are stable during 1981–2013. However, the occurrence frequency of the heavy rainfall events resulting from TSLs is decreasing. More than 50% of the TSLs can lead to heavy rainfall, while 40% of the heavy rainfall events are caused by TSLs. TSLs are closely related to heavy rainfalls in the flooding season of June–August over the Tibetan Plateau.     

Uncertainty in Projection of Climate Extremes: A Comparison of CMIP5 and CMIP6

Climate projections by global climate models(GCMs) are subject to considerable and multi-source uncertainties.This study aims to compare the uncertainty in projection of precipitation and temperature extremes between Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP) phase 5(CMIP5) and phase 6(CMIP6), using 24 GCMs forced by 3 emission scenarios in each phase of CMIP. In this study, the total uncertainty(T) of climate projections is decomposed into the greenhouse gas emission scenario uncertainty(S, mean inter-scenario variance of the signals over all the models), GCM uncertainty(M, mean inter-model variance of signals over all emission scenarios), and internal climate variability uncertainty(V, variance in noises over all models, emission scenarios, and projection lead times); namely,T = S + M + V. The results of analysis demonstrate that the magnitudes of S, M, and T present similarly increasing trends over the 21 st century. The magnitudes of S, M, V, and T in CMIP6 are 0.94–0.96, 1.38–2.07, 1.04–1.69, and 1.20–1.93 times as high as those in CMIP5. Both CMIP5 and CMIP6 exhibit similar spatial variation patterns of uncertainties and similar ranks of contributions from different sources of uncertainties. The uncertainty for precipitation is lower in midlatitudes and parts of the equatorial region, but higher in low latitudes and the polar region. The uncertainty for temperature is higher over land areas than oceans, and higher in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hemisphere. For precipitation, T is mainly determined by M and V in the early 21 st century, by M and S at the end of the 21 st century; and the turning point will appear in the 2070 s. For temperature, T is dominated by M in the early 21 st century, and by S at the end of the 21 st century, with the turning point occuring in the 2060 s. The relative contributions of S to T in CMIP6(12.5%–14.3% for precipitation and 31.6%–36.2% for temperature) are lower than those in CMIP5(15.1%–17.5% for precipitation and 38.6%–43.8% for temperature). By contrast, the relative contributions of M in CMIP6(50.6%–59.8% for precipitation and 59.4%–60.3% for temperature) are higher than those in CMIP5(47.5%–57.9% for precipitation and 51.7%–53.6% for temperature). The higher magnitude and relative contributions of M in CMIP6 indicate larger difference among projections of various GCMs. Therefore, more GCMs are needed to ensure the robustness of climate projections.     

Projection of Extreme Temperatures in Hong Kong in the 21st Century

The possible changes in the frequency of extreme temperature events in Hong Kong in the 21st century were investigated by statistically downscaling 26 sets of the daily global climate model projections (a combination of 11 models and 3 greenhouse gas emission scenarios, namely A2, A1B, and B1) of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The models’ performance in simulating the past climate during 1971–2000 has also been verified and discussed. The verification revealed that the models in general have an acceptable skill in reproducing past statistics of extreme temperature events. Moreover, the models are more skillful in simulating the past climate of the hot nights and cold days than that of the very hot days. The projection results suggested that, in the 21st century, the frequency of occurrence of extremely high temperature events in Hong Kong would increase significantly while that of the extremely low temperature events is expected to drop significantly. Based on the multi-model scenario ensemble mean, the average annual numbers of very hot days and hot nights in Hong Kong are expected to increase significantly from 9 days and 16 nights in 1980–1999 to 89 days and 137 nights respectively in 2090–2099. On the other hand, the average annual number of cold days will drop from 17 days in 1980–1999 to about 1 day in 2090–2099. About 65 percent of the model-scenario combinations indicate that there will be on average less than one cold day in 2090–2099. While all the model-emission scenarios in general have projected consistent trends in the change of temperature extremes in the 21st century, there is a large divergence in the projections between difierent model/emission scenarios. This reflects that there are still large uncertainties in the model simulation of the future climate of extreme temperature events.     

NUIST ESM v3 Data Submission to CMIP6

This paper introduces the experimental designs and outputs of the Diagnostic,Evaluation and Characterization of Klima(DECK),historical,Scenario Model Intercomparison Project(MIP),and Paleoclimate MIP(PMIP)experiments from the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology Earth System Model version 3(NESM3).Results show that NESM3 reasonably simulates the modern climate and the major internal modes of climate variability.In the Scenario MIP experiment,changes in the projected surface air temperature(SAT)show robust“Northern Hemisphere(NH)warmer than Southern Hemisphere(SH)”and“land warmer than ocean”patterns,as well as an El Ni?o-like warming over the tropical Pacific.Changes in the projected precipitation exhibit“NH wetter than SH”and“eastern hemisphere gets wetter and western hemisphere gets drier”patterns over the tropics.These precipitation patterns are driven by circulation changes owing to the inhomogeneous warming patterns.Two PMIP experiments show enlarged seasonal cycles of SAT and precipitation over the NH due to the seasonal redistribution of solar radiation.Changes in the climatological mean SAT,precipitation,and ENSO amplitudes are consistent with the results from PMIP4 models.The NESM3 outputs are available on the Earth System Grid Federation nodes for data users.