Paleoclimate Modelling at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Paleoclimate modelling is one of the core topics in the Past Global Changes project under the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and has received much attention worldwide in recent decades. Here we summarize the research on the Paleoclimate modeling, including the Holocene, Last Glacial Maximum, and pre-Quaternary climate intervals or events performed at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAP/CAS) for over one decade. As an attempt to review these academic activities, we emphasize that vegetation and ocean feedbacks can amplify East Asian climate response to the Earth’s orbital parameters and atmospheric CO2 concentration at the mid-Holocene. At the Last Glacial Maximum, additional cooling in interior China is caused by the feedback effects of East Asian vegetation and the ice sheet over the Tibetan Plateau, and the regional climate model RegCM2 generally reduces data-model discrepancies in East Asia. The simulated mid-Pliocene climate is characterized by warmer and drier conditions as well as significantly weakened summer and winter monsoon systems in interior China. On a tectonic timescale, both the Tibetan Plateau uplift and the Paratethys Sea retreat play important roles in the formation of East Asian monsoon-dominant environmental pattern during the Cenozoic.     

Numerical Modelings of the Climatic Effects of the Land-Sea Distribution and Topography

The effects of the land-sea contrast and the topography on the climatic properties are simulated in this paper by use of a p- σ incorporated coordinate system model in a zonal domain. In this paper we firstly discuss the statistical features of the model and find that the capability of the model is stable, with the same land-sea distribution and to-pography seven monthly mean climate states are close to one another, their variance is even less than the initial one. Secondly, we focally discuss the effects of the land-sea contrast and the topography on the modeled climate fields, It is pointed out that the land-sea contrast and the topography influence the atmosphere mainly through the heating ef-fect and the former has larger influences on the simulated large scale climate fields than the latter.     

Impact of dust aerosol on glacial-interglacial climate

The temperature anomaly and dust concentrations recorded from central Antarctic ice core records display a strong negative correlation. The dust concentration recorded from an ice core in central Antarctica is 50-70 times higher during glacial periods than interglacial periods. This study investigated the impact of dust aerosol on glacial-interglacial climate, using a zonal energy balance model and dust concentration data from an Antarctica ice core. Two important effects of dust, the direct radiative effect and dust-albedo feedback, were considered. On the one hand, the direct radiative effect of dust significantly cooled the climate during the glacial period, with cooling during the last glacial maximum being as much as 2.05℃ in Antarctica. On the other hand, dust deposition onto the ice decreased the surface albedo over Antarctica, leading to increased absorption of solar radiation, inducing a positive feedback that warmed the region by as much as about 0.9℃ during the glacial period. However, cooling by the direct dust effect was found to be the controlling effect for the glacial climate and may be the major influence on the strong negative correlation between temperature and dust concentration during glacial periods.     

A Possible Impact of Cooling over the Tibetan Plateau on the Mid-Holocene East Asian Monsoon Climate

By using a 9-level global atmospheric general circulation model developed at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP9L-AGCM) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the authors investigated the response of the East Asian monsoon climate to changes both in orbital forcing and the snow and glaciers over the Tibetan Plateau at the mid-Holocene, about 6000 calendar years before the present (6 kyr BP). With the Earth’s orbital parameters appropriate for the mid-Holocene, the IAP9L-AGCM computed warmer and wetter conditions in boreal summer than for the present day. Under the precondition of continental snow and glacier cover existing over part of the Tibetan Plateau at the mid-Holocene, the authors examined the regional climate response to the Tibetan Plateau cooling. The simulations indicated that climate changes in South Asia and parts of central Asia as well as in East Asia are sensitive to the Tibetan Plateau cooling at the mid-Holocene, showing a significant decrease in precipitation in northern India, northern China and southern Mongolia and an increase in Southeast Asia during boreal summer. The latter seems to correspond to the weakening, southeastward shift of the Asian summer monsoon system resulting from reduced heat contrast between the Eurasian continent and the Pacific and Indian Oceans when a cooling over the Tibetan Plateau was imposed. The simulation results suggest that the snow and glacier environment over the Tibetan Plateau is an important factor for mid-Holocene climate change in the areas highly influenced by the Asian monsoon.     

Simulation of the Direct Radiative Effect of Mineral Dust and Sea Salt Aerosols in a Doubled Carbon Dioxide Climate

The authors examine the equilibrium climatic response to the direct radiative effect(DRE)of mineral dust and sea salt aerosols in a doubled-CO2climate with two-way coupling of aerosol-climate interactions.In response to the drier and windier conditions,dust emissions increase by 26%in the Sahara Desert and by 18%on the global scale relative to present day.Sea salt emissions increase in high latitudes(60°)but decrease in middle latitudes(30°–60°)of both hemispheres due to the poleward shift of westerlies,leading to a 3%decrease in global emissions.The burdens of dust and sea salt increase by 31%and 7%respectively,because reductions in rainfall over the tropical oceans increase the lifetime of particles in the warmer climate.The higher aerosol loading in the doubled-CO2climate reinforces aerosol DRE by0.2 W m 2,leading to an additional cooling of 0.1°C at the surface compared with the climatic effects of aerosols in present day.The additional cooling from changes in natural aerosols compensates for up to 15%of the regional warming induced by doubled CO2.     

Characteristics of the heat island effect in Shanghai and its possible mechanism

The characteristics of the urban heat island effect and the climate change in Shanghai and its possible mechanism are analyzed based on monthly meteorological data from 1961 to 1997 at 16 stations in Shanghai and its adjacent areas. The results indicate that Shanghai City has the characteristics of a heat island of air temperature and maximum and minimum air temperature, a cold island of surface soil temperature, a weak rainy island of precipitation, and a turbid island of minimum visibility and aerosols, with centers at or near Longhua station (the urban station of Shanghai). Besides theses, the characteristics of a cloudy island and sunshine duration island are also obvious, but their centers are located in the southern part of the urban area and in the southern suburbs. A linear trend analysis suggests that all of the above urban effects intensified from 1961 to 1997. So far as the heat island effect is concerned, the heat island index (difference of annual temperature between Longhua and Songjiang stations) strengthens (weakens) as the economic development increases (decreases). The authors suggest that the heating increase caused by increasing energy consumption due to economic development is a main factor in controlling the climate change of Shanghai besides natural factors. On the other hand, increasing pollution aerosols contribute to the enhancement of the turbid island and cooling. On the whole, the heating effect caused by increasing energy consumption is stronger than the cooling effect caused by the turbid island and pollution aerosols.     

A Study of the Impacts of the Spatial Differences in Climate Engineering Programs on the Intensities of Extreme High-Temperature Events in China Under A 1.5℃ Temperature Control Target

Based on the daily maximum temperature data and average temperature data prediction for the period ranging from 2020 to 2099 under the scenario of BNU-ESM climate engineering(G4 test) and non-climate engineering(RCP4.5), the regional differences in the extreme high-temperature intensities in China during the implementation of climate engineering programs(2020 to 2069) and after the implementation of those programs(2070 to 2099) were analyzed using the Weibull Distribution Theory. The results are as follows.(1) The comparison of the two scenarios shows that climate engineering has not fundamentally changed the spatial variation of the intensity of extreme hightemperature events in different recurring periods in China. It was found that in both scenarios, the extreme hightemperature intensities were characterized by the spatial differentiations of low-temperature intensities on the QinghaiTibet Plateau, and high-temperature intensities in the eastern and northwestern region.(2) The comparison of the two scenarios shows that climate engineering in the two study periods could help mitigate the extreme high-temperature intensities with different recurrence periods in China, and the mitigation effects during the implementation period would be significantly higher than those after the implementation.(3) The comparison between the periods ranging from 2020 to 2069 and 2070 to 2099 under the proposed climate engineering scenarios suggests that there would be no strong rebounding of extreme high-temperatures following the implementation of climate engineering programs. Moreover, the mitigation effect of extreme high-temperature intensity during the implementation of climate engineering is significantly higher than that after the completion of climate engineering.(4) According to the comparison between the average temperature changes in China before and after the implementation of the climate project, the average temperature in China has been reduced by at least 1.25 ℃, which effectively alleviates global warming and is conducive to the realization of the 1.5 ℃ temperature control target of the Paris Agreement.     

Numerical Study for Potential Predictability of Short-Term Anomalous Climate Change Caused by E1 Nino

In this paper, the two-layer IAP model with sea surface temperature anomalies in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific is used to investigate potential predictability of global short-term anomalous climate change caused by El Nino via the "switching" experiments. The experimental results show that short-term anomalous climate change in the tropics is mainly caused by instantaneous response of tropical atmosphere to SSTA in the tropics. The effective period of this kind of anomalous climate is shorter and about monthly scale. In the high latitudes, the anomalous climate is mainly caused by the lag response of atmosphere to SSTA in the tropics. The strongest influence appears in the month after a half year when the SSTA in the tropics disappears. Therefore, potential predictability of short-term anomalous climate change may be reached to one year; anomalous climate change in the middle-latitudes is not only affected by instantaneous response to SSTA in the tropics, but also by lag response to that. There     

On the Response of the Global Subduction Rate to Global Warming in Coupled Climate Models简

The response of the global subduction rate to global warming was assessed based on a set of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change （IPCC） Fourth Assessment Report （AR4） models. It was found that the subduction rate of the global ocean could be significantly reduced under a warming climate, as compared to a simulation of the present-day climate. The reduction in the subduction volume was quantitatively estimated at about 40 Sv and was found to be= primarily induced by the decreasing of the lateral induction term due to a shallower winter mixed layer depth. The shrinking of the winter mixed layer would result from intensified stratification caused by increased heat input into the ocean under a warming climate. A reduction in subduction associated with the vertical pumping term was estimated at about 5 Sv. F~rther, in the Southern Ocean, a significant reduction in subduction was estimated at around 24 Sv, indicating a substantial contribution to the weakening of global subduction.     

A Study of the Impacts of the Spatial Differences in Climate Engineering Programs on the Extreme Intensities of High-Temperature Events in China Under A 1.5°C Temperature Control Target

Based on the daily maximum temperature data and average temperature data prediction for the period ranging from 2020 to 2099 under the scenario of BNU-ESM climate engineering (G4 test) and non-climate engineering (RCP4.5), the regional differences in the extreme high-temperature intensities in China during the implementation of climate engineering programs (2020 to 2069) and after the implementation of those programs (2070 to 2099) were analyzed using a Weibull Distribution Theory. The results indicated the following: (1) The results of this study’s comparison between the two scenarios had shown that climate engineering had not fundamentally changed the spatial features of the high and low differentiations for the extreme high-temperature intensities with the different recurrence periods in China. It was found that in both scenarios, the extreme high-temperature intensities were characterized by the spatial differentiations of low-temperature intensities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and high-temperature intensities in the eastern and northwestern region; (2) This study’s comparison results of the two scenarios had indicated that the climate engineering processes during the two study periods could potentially help mitigate the extreme high-temperature intensities with different recurrence periods in China. Furthermore, the mitigation effects during the implementation period would be significantly higher than those after the implementation; (3) This study’s results of the comparison between the periods ranging from 2020 to 2069 and 2070 to 2099 under the proposed climate engineering scenarios suggested that there would be no strong rebounding of the extreme high-temperatures following the implementation of climate engineering programs, and the mitigation effects on the extreme high-temperature intensities during the implementation of the climate engineering programs would be significantly higher than after the implementation of the programs; (4) When comparisons were made of the changes of the average temperatures in China before and after the implementation of climate engineering programs, the results had shown that the average temperature in China had been reduced by at least 1.25℃ as a result of climate engineering, which would effectively alleviate the global warming trend, and could also be conducive to the realization of a temperature control target of 1.5℃ in accordance with the Paris Agreement.     

Impact of topography and land-sea distribution on East Asian paleoenvironmental patterns

Much geological research has illustrated the transition of paleoenvironmental patterns during the Cenozoic from a planetary-wind-dominant type to a monsoon-dominant type, indicating the initiation of the East Asian monsoon and inland-type aridity. However, there is a dispute about the causes and mechanisms of the transition, especially about the impact of the Himalayan/Tibetan Plateau uplift and the Paratethys Sea retreat. Thirty numerical sensitivity experiments under different land-sea distributions and Himalayan/Tibetan Plateau topography conditions are performed here to simulate the evolution of climate belts with emphasis on changes in the rain band, and these are compared with the changes in the paleoenvironmental patterns during the Cenozoic recovered by geological records. The consistency between simulations and the geological evidence indicates that both the Tibetan Plateau uplift and the Paratethys Sea retreat play important roles in the formation of the monsoon-dominant environmental pattern. Furthermore, the simulations show the monsoon-dominant environmental pattern comes into being when the Himalayan/Tibetan Plateau reaches 1000–2000 m high and the Paratethys Sea retreats to the Turan Plate.     

Simulation of the Effect of an Increase in Methane on Air Temperature

The infrared radiative effect of methane was analyzed using the 2D, interactive chemical dynamical radiative SOCRATES model of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Then, a sensitivity experi ment, with the methane volume mixing ratio increased by 10%, was carried out to study the influence of an increase of methane on air temperature. The results showed that methane has a heating effect through the infrared radiative process in the troposphere and a cooling effect in the stratosphere. However, the cooling effect of the methane is much smaller than that of water vapor in the stratosphere and is negligible in the mesosphere. The simulation results also showed that when methane concentration is increased by 10%, the air temperature lowers in the stratosphere and mesosphere and increases in the troposphere. The cooling can reach 0.2 K at the stratopause and can vary from 0.2-0.4 K in the mesosphere, and the temperature rise varies by around 0.001-0.002 K in the troposphere. The cooling results from the increase of the infrared radiative cooling rate caused by increased water vapor and O3 concentration, which are stimulated by the increase in methane in most of the stratosphere. The infrared radiation cooling of methane itself is minor. The depletion of O3 stimulated by the methane increase results indirectly in a decrease in the rate of so- lar radiation heating, producing cooling in the stratopause and mesosphere. The tropospheric warming is mainly caused by the increase of methane, which produces infrared radiative heating. The increase in H2O and O3 caused by the methane increase also contributes to a rise in temperature in the troposphere.     

Possible Impacts of the Arctic Oscillation on the Interdecadal Variation of Summer Monsoon Rainfall in East Asia

The influences of the wintertime AO (Arctic Oscillation) on the interdecadal variation of summer monsoon rainfall in East Asia were examined. An interdecadal abrupt change was found by the end of the 1970s in the variation of the AO index and the leading principal component time series of the summer rainfall in East Asia, The rainfall anomaly changed from below normal to above normal in central China, the southern part of northeastern China and the Korean peninsula around 1978. However,the opposite interdecadal variation was found in the rainfall anomaly in North China and South China.The interdecadal variation of summer rainfall is associated with the weakening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation. It is indicated that the interdecadal variation of the AO exerts an influence on the weakening of the monsoon circulation. The recent trend in the AO toward its high-index polarity during the past two decades plays important roles in the land-sea contrast anomalies and wintertime precipitation anomaly. The mid- and high-latitude regions of the Asian continent are warming, while the low-latitude regions are cooling in winter and spring along with the AO entering its high-index polarity after the late 1970s. In the meantime, the precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau and South China is excessive, implying an increase of soil moisture. The cooling tendency of the land in the southern part of Asia will persist until summer because of the memory of soil moisture. So the warming of the Asian continent is relatively slow in summer. Moreover, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean which are located southward and eastward of the Asian land, are warming from winter to summer. This suggests that the contrast between the land and sea is decreased in summer. The interdecadal decrease of the land-sea heat contrast finally leads to the weakening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation.     

Assessing the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation of the Past, Present, and Future

This paper is a review of the recent development of researches on the stability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation （AMOC）. In particular, we will review recent studies that attempt to best assess the stability of the AMOC in the past, present, and future by using a stability indicator related to the freshwater transport by the AMOC. These studies further illustrate a potentially systematic bias in the state-of-the-art atmosphere-ocean generM circulation models （AOCCMs）, in which the AMOCs seem to be over-stabilized relative to that in the real world. This common model bias in the AMOC stability is contributed, partly, to a common tropical bias associated with the double intertropical convergence zone （ITCZ） in most state-of-the- art AOGCMs, casting doubts on future projection of abrupt climate changes in these climate models.     

Simulation of the Effect of Water-vapor Increase on Temperature in the Stratosphere

To analyze the mechanism by which water vapor increase leads to cooling in the stratosphere, the effects of water-vapor increases on temperature in the stratosphere were simulated using the two-dimensional, interactive chemical dynamical radiative model (SOCRATES) of NCAR. The results indicate that increases in stratospheric water vapor lead to stratospheric cooling, with the extent of cooling increasing with height, and that cooling in the middle stratosphere is stronger in Arctic regions. Analysis of the radiation process showed that infrared radiative cooling by water vapor is a pivotal factor in middle-lower stratospheric cooling. However, in the upper stratosphere (above 45 km), infrared radiation is not a factor in cooling; there, cooling is caused by the decreased solar radiative heating rate resulting from ozone decrease due to increased stratospheric water vapor. Dynamical cooling is important in the middle-upper stratosphere, and dynamical feedback to temperature change is more distinct in the Northern Hemisphere middle-high latitudes than in other regions and signiffcantly affects temperature and ozone in winter over Arctic regions. Increasing stratospheric water vapor will strengthen ozone depletion through the chemical process. However, ozone will increase in the middle stratosphere. The change in ozone due to increasing water vapor has an important effect on the stratospheric temperature change.     

Stratospheric Ozone-induced Cloud Radiative Effects on Antarctic Sea Ice

Recent studies demonstrate that the Antarctic Ozone Hole has important influences on Antarctic sea ice.While most of these works have focused on effects associated with atmospheric and oceanic dynamic processes caused by stratospheric ozone changes,here we show that stratospheric ozone-induced cloud radiative effects also play important roles in causing changes in Antarctic sea ice.Our simulations demonstrate that the recovery of the Antarctic Ozone Hole causes decreases in clouds over Southern Hemisphere(SH)high latitudes and increases in clouds over the SH extratropics.The decrease in clouds leads to a reduction in downward infrared radiation,especially in austral autumn.This results in cooling of the Southern Ocean surface and increasing Antarctic sea ice.Surface cooling also involves ice-albedo feedback.Increasing sea ice reflects solar radiation and causes further cooling and more increases in Antarctic sea ice.     

The role of atmospheric teleconnection in the subtropical thermal forcing on the equatorial pacific

The equatorial response to subtropical Pacific forcing was studied in a coupled climate model.The forcings in the western,central and eastern subtropical Pacific all caused a significant response in the equatorial thermocline,with comparable magnitudes.This work highlights the key role of air-sea coupling in the subtropical impact on the equatorial thermocline,instead of only the role of the ＂oceanic tunnel＂.The suggested mechanism is that the cyclonic （anticyclonic） circulation in the atmosphere caused by the subtropical surface warming （cooling） can generate an anomalous upwelling （downwelling） in the interior region.At the same time,an anomalous downwelling （upwelling） occurs at the equatorward flank of the forcing,which produces anomalous thermocline warming （cooling）,propagating equatorward and resulting in warming （cooling） in the equatorial thermocline.This is an indirect process that is much faster than the ＂oceanic tunnel＂ mechanism in the subtropical impact on the equator.     

SOME ADVANCES IN CLIMATE WARMING IMPACT RESEARCH IN CHINA SINCE 1990

Increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will strengthen the naturalgreenhouse effect,which could lead to global climate warming and more other changes.China is alargely agricultural country with a large size of population and the relative shortages of farminglands and water resources,thus increasing the importance of climate warming for national economydevelopment.Therefore,Chinese government and scientists have paid great attention to theimpact-assessment of climate warming on national economy in China,especially during the past 10years.This presentation will briefly describe some major issues of climate warming impact researchon national vegetation,agriculture,forest,water resources,energy use and regional sea level forChina,etc.As a result,all climate change scenarios derived by GCMs suggest a substantial change in thecharacteristic natural vegetation types.It is also shown that comparing with the distributionsimulated under the normal time period 1951—1980 as the present climate,by 2050 large changesin cropping systems would occur almost everywhere in China.Climate warming would lead toincrease cropping diversification and multiplication.Unfortunately,the possible net balancebetween precipitation and evapotranspiration would be negative and it would lead to reduce thegrain production in China significantly due to enhanced moisture stress in soil.The most evidentinfluence of climate warming on water resources would happen in Huanghe-Huaihe-Haihe Basin andthe water supply-demand deficit would be substantially enhanced in this area.And also,a warmerclimate for China will alter the energy requirement for domestic heating and cooling,that is,reduce energy use for heating in northern China and increase energy consumption for cooling insouthern China.     

CHARACTERISTICS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN CHANGJIANG DELTA AND ITS POSSIBLE MECHANISM

Characteristics of climate change in the Changjiang Delta were analyzed based on the annualmean meteorological data since 1961,including air temperature,maximum and minimum airtemperature,precipitation,sunshine duration and visibility at 48 stations in that area(southernJiangsu and northern Zhejiang),and its adjacent areas(northern Jiangsu,eastern Anhui andsouthern Zhejiang),together with the environmental data.The results indicate that it is gettingwarmer in the Changjiang Delta and cooler in adjacent areas,thus the Changjiang Delta becomes a bigheat island,containing many little heat islands consisting of central cities,in which Shanghai City isthe strongest heat island.The intensity of heat islands enhances as economic development goes up.From the year 1978.the beginning year of reform and opening policy,to the year 1997,the intensityof big heat island of Changjiang Delta has increased 0.5℃ and Shanghai heat island increased 0.8℃.However.since 1978 the constituents of SO_2,NO_x and TSP(total suspended particles)in theatmosphere,no matter whether in the Changjiang Delta or in the adjacent areas,have all increased,but pH values of precipitation decreased.In the meantime,both sunshine duration and visibility arealso decreased,indicating that there exists a mechanism for climate cooling in these areas.Ouranalyses show that the mechanism for climate warming in the Changjiang Delta may be associatedwith heating increase caused by,economic development and increasing energy consumption.It isestimated that up to 1997 the intensity of warming caused by this mechanism in the Changjiang Deltahas reached 0.8—0.9℃,about 4—4.5 times as large as the mean values before 1978.Since then,the increase rate has become 0. 035℃/a for the Changjiang Delta.It has reached 1.3℃ for Shanghaiin 1997,about 12—13 times as large as the mean values before 1978.This is a rough estimation ofincreasing energy consumption rate caused by economic development.     

Numerical Experiments of the Effects of Initial Desert Moisture on the Climate Change

A numerical model with the p-sigma incorporated coordinate system and primitive equations is used to simulate the effect of initial soil moisture in desert areas on the climate change. The results show that the present deserts have a tendency to expand. When the initial soil moisture in the desert regions increases,the desert areas will shrink but can not disappear. The small deserts may not remain any longer when there are sources of water vapour around. Both the land-sea contrast and the topography are the background conditions of the present desert distribution through the mechanism of the downdrafts and the rare precipitation over the desert regions. The increase of the initial desert soil moisture will weaken the summer monsoon circulation and, consequently, the monsoonal precipitation.