The Medieval Warm Period, the Little Ice Age and simulated climatic variability

The CSIRO Mark 2 coupled global climatic model has been used to generate a 10,000-year simulation for ‘present’ climatic conditions. The model output has been analysed to identify sustained climatic fluctuations, such as those attributed to the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). Since no external forcing was permitted during the model run all such fluctuations are attributed to naturally occurring climatic variability associated with the nonlinear processes inherent in the climatic system. Comparison of simulated climatic time series for different geographical locations highlighted the lack of synchronicity between these series. The model was found to be able to simulate climatic extremes for selected observations for century timescales, as well as identifying the associated spatial characteristics. Other examples of time series simulated by the model for the USA and eastern Russia had similar characteristics to those attributed to the MWP and the LIA, but smaller amplitudes, and clearly defined spatial patterns. A search for the frequency of occurrence of specified surface temperature anomalies, defined via duration and mean value, revealed that these were primarily confined to polar regions and northern latitudes of Europe, Asia and North America. Over the majority of the oceans and southern hemisphere such climatic fluctuations could not be sustained, for reasons explained in the paper. Similarly, sustained sea–ice anomalies were mainly confined to the northern hemisphere. An examination of mechanisms associated with the sustained climatic fluctuations failed to identify a role for the North Atlantic Oscillation, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation or the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. It was therefore concluded that these fluctuations were generated by stochastic processes intrinsic to the nonlinear climatic system. While a number of characteristics of the MWP and the LIA could have been partially caused by natural processes within the climatic system, the inability of the model to reproduce the observed hemispheric mean temperature anomalies associated with these events indicates that external forcing must have been involved. Essentially the unforced climatic system is unable to sustain the generation of long-term climatic anomalies.     

Holocene climatic changes over northwest India: An appraisal

Multidisciplinary studies of the climatic conditions of the present-day arid regions of the northwest Indian region indicate phases of distinct change during the recent post-glacial period. In view of the topical importance of the subject, and the sources of information being scattered throughout multidiscipli-nary research journals, an attempt has been made to summarize and present a coherent picture of the climate of the present-day desert regions of northwest India for the Holocene period. The present-day climatology and physiography of the region is presented as introductory material. The important studies which throw some light on the glacial arid phase, the wet phase, coinciding with the Harappan civilization, and the present-day arid phase are reviewed.     

小冰期气候研究回顾和机理探寻

回顾了古气候学中利用代用气象资料对小冰期气候重建的研究结果，归纳出小冰期时期全球气候特征及东亚季风区域气候特征，分析了小冰期气候形成的可能原因，介绍了国外有关小冰期气候成因的数值模拟现状，并对未来模拟工作发展方向提出了建议。     

中国小冰期气候研究综述

通过对小冰期研究文献进行综述,并对已发表的小冰期温度和降水数据进行综合对比分析,探讨小冰期时期中国气候特征的区域性.结果表明,小冰期在中国地区不同区域代用指标记录中均存在,但是小冰期的起讫及持续时间具有区域差异性,温湿配置也不尽相同.小冰期的起始时间主要呈现出由西向东推移的趋势,即青藏高原最早,华北地区次之而东部地区最晚.温湿配置的差异主要体现在东部季风区小冰期时期总体上是冷干的气候环境,而西部地区气候变化则呈现冷湿的气候特征.     

小冰期气候变化研究新进展

 利用冰芯、树轮、石笋、湖泊沉积和历史文献等多种代用资料进行小冰期的研究已取得了较大进展。研究表明：小冰期是全球性的气候异常期,时间跨度约为500 a (1400-1900 AD);小冰期气候变化的干（湿）/冷（暖）配置在全球存在区域性差异,其变化幅度、起讫和持续时间也因地而异。小冰期气候的形成,受到太阳、火山活动、大气环流,以及大气、海洋和陆地间相互作用的影响。综合分析小冰期在全球的时空分布特点和形成的可能原因,对小冰期研究中仍未解决的主要问题及今后研究的重点进行了展望。     

Ice core evidence for secular variability and 200-year dipolar oscillations in atmospheric circulation over East Antarctica during the Holocene

Two Holocene ice core records from East Antarctica (Vostok and EPICA-Dome C) were analysed for dust concentration and size distribution at a temporal resolution of 1 sample per ~50 years. A series of volcanic markers randomly distributed over the common part of the ice cores (from 9.8 to 3.5 kyear BP) ensures accurate relative dating (±33 years). Dust-size records from the two sites display oscillations structured in cycles with sub-millennial and secular scale frequencies that are apparently asynchronous. The power spectra of the composite sum (Σ) of the two dust-size records display spectral energy mostly for 150- to 500-year periodicities. On the other hand, the 200-year band is common to both records and the 200 year components of the two sites are out-of-phase (100-year lead or lag) over ~5.5 kyear, a phenomenon also reflected by a significant (>99% conf. lev.) band in the power spectra of the composite difference (Δ) of the two size records. During long-range transport, mineral dust originating from the Southern Hemisphere continents is graded to a variable extent depending on the altitude and duration of atmospheric transport. Relatively coarse dust is associated with air mass penetration from the middle–lower troposphere and conversely relatively fine dust with upper troposphere air masses or the influence of subsidence over the Antarctic plateau, a hypothesis already proposed for the changes that occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene transition (Delmonte et al. 2004b). Moreover, we assume that the overall fluctuation of air mass advection over Antarctica depends on the meridional pressure gradient with respect to low latitudes, i.e. the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO). We therefore suggest a regional variability in atmospheric circulation over East Antarctica. The 150–500 year power spectrum of the composite (Σ) parameter represents the long term variability of the AAO, imprinted by secular internal oscillations probably related to the southern ocean-climatic system. On the other hand, the Δ dust composite parameter suggests a persistent atmospheric dipole over East Antarctica delivering coarser (finer) dust particles alternatively to Vostok and Dome C regions with a bi-centennial periodicity. Indeed, a seesaw phenomenon in dust size distribution was already observed at three East Antarctic sites during the last deglaciation (Delmonte et al. 2004b) and was interpreted as a progressive reduction of the eccentricity of the polar vortex with respect to the geographic south pole. Interestingly, the Δ parameter shows a pronounced 200-year oscillation mode, throwing new light on the unresolved question of a possible relationship between climate and solar activity.     

Evidence for an early Holocene climatic optimum in the Antarctic deep ice-core record

In the interpretation of the Antarctic deep ice-core data, little attention has been given to the Holocene part of the records. As far as translation of the stable isotope content in terms of temperature is concerned, this can be understood because expected temperature changes may be obscured by isotopic noise of various origins and because no ¹⁴C dating has yet been available for this type of sequence. In this article, we focus on the Dome C and Vostok cores and on a new 850-m long ice core drilled out at Komsomolskaïa by the Soviet Antarctic Expeditions. These three sites are located in East Antarctica, on the Antarctic plateau, in a region essentially undisturbed by ice-flow conditions, so that their detailed intercomparison may allow us to identify the climatically significant isotopic signal. Our results compare well with the proximal records of Southern Hemisphere high latitudes and support the existence of a warmer climatic optimum between 10 and 6 ka y BP. Maximum temperatures are reached just at the end of the last deglaciation, which confirms previous observations at high latitudes, in contrast with later dates for the Atlantic and hypsithermal optima in Europe and North America.Contribution to Clima Locarno — Past and Present Climate Dynamics; Conference September 1990, Swiss Academy of Sciences — National Climate Program     

A study of the climatic regimes of the Pleistocene using a stochastic resonance model

A global energy balance model employing the stochastic resonance mechanism, previously used to explain the climatic variability of the late Pleistocene, has now been extended to account for the climatic variations over the full Pleistocene. The possibility that extremely long-term changes (of the order of millions of years) in the boundary conditions of the climate system have altered the response of the Pleistocene climate to the external orbital forcing has been investigated. It is shown that, by slowly changing the only free parameter of the model, the system can undergo a pitchfork bifurcation. The bifurcation point separates a linear regime (identified with the early Pleistocene climate) from a strongly nonlinear regime (the late Pleistocene) where the stochastic resonance mechanism produces rapid and symmetric transitions between the two stable steady states of the system. The main differences in the dynamic features of the two regimes are the change in amplitude of the oscillations, the relative importance of the stochastic forcing, the change in shape of the probability distribution, and the corresponding change in the power centered around the 100000 year cycle: in qualitative agreement with the observed geological record. With the introduction of the external orbital forcing, now spectrally complete and included without requiring any additional hypothesis, the model reproduces the previous results, namely the good correlation with the isotopic record, the appearance of the dominant spectral peaks, as well as the redness of the power spectrum. In particular, it is shown that the orbital forcing in eccentricity acts as a pacemaker of the major glacial cycles of the late Pleistocene through the mechanism of stochastic resonance. A stochastic sensitivity analysis is then applied to validate the significance of the results and to investigate the predictability of the climate system over the time-scales of the orbital cycles.     

Climatic Change and Witch-hunting: the Impact of the Little Ice Age on Mentalities

In addition to objective climatic data, subjective or social reactions can also serve as indicators in the assessment of climatic changes. Concerning the Little Ice Age the conception of witchcraft is of enormous importance. Weather-making counts among the traditional abilities of witches. During the late 14^th and 15^th centuries the traditional conception of witchcraft was transformed into the idea of a great conspiracy of witches, to explain "unnatural" climatic phenomena. Because of their dangerous nature, particularly their ability to generate hailstorms, the very idea of witches was the subject of controversial discussion around 1500. The beginnings of meteorology and its emphasis of "natural" reasons in relationship to the development of weather must be seen against the background of this demoniacal discussion. The resurgence of the Little Ice Age revealed the susceptibility of society. Scapegoat reactions may be observed by the early 1560s even though climatologists, thus far, have been of the opinion that the cooling period did not begin until 1565. Despite attempts of containment, such as the calvinistic doctrine of predestination, extended witch-hunts took place at the various peaks of the Little Ice Age because a part of society held the witches directly responsible for the high frequency of climatic anomalies and the impacts thereof. The enormous tensions created in society as a result of the persecution of witches demonstrate how dangerous it is to discuss climatic change under the aspects of morality.     

The Initiation of the "Little Ice Age" in Regions Round the North Atlantic

The "Little Ice Age" was the most recent period during which glaciers extended globally, their fronts oscillating about advanced positions. It is frequently taken as having started in the sixteenth or seventeenth century and ending somewhere between 1850 and 1890, but Porter (1981) pointed out that the "Little Ice Age" may 'have begun at least three centuries earlier in the North Atlantic region than is generally inferred'. The glacial fluctuations of the last millennium have been traced in the greatest detail in the Swiss Alps, where the "Little Ice Age" is now seen as starting with advances in the thirteenth century, and reaching an initial culmination in the fourteenth century. In the discussion here, evidence from Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Spitsbergen and Scandinavia is compared with that from Switzerland. Such comparisons have been facilitated by improved methods of calibrating radiocarbon dates to calendar dates and by increasing availability of evidence revealed during the current retreat phase. It is concluded that the "Little Ice Age" was initiated before the early fourteenth century in regions surrounding the North Atlantic.     

一个气候系统模式对小冰期外强迫变化的平衡态响应

本文利用中国科学院大气物理研究所大气科学和地球流体力学数值模拟国家重点实验室发展的气候系统模式FGOALS_gl, 通过设定小冰期的太阳辐射变化, 模拟了小冰期的气候平衡态, 讨论了小冰期气候变化的机理。数值试验结果表明, 由太阳辐照度变化和火山活动共同作用造成的太阳辐射减少是小冰期气候的重要成因, 模拟的小冰期表层气温变化分布与重建资料在全球大多数地区较为一致。就全球平均情况而言, 小冰期的年平均气温较之1860年偏冷0.15℃, 较之20世纪平均情况偏冷0.6℃左右。小冰期温度变化存在显著的地域和季节特征, 表现为北半球降温幅度大于南半球, 高纬地区降温幅度大于低纬地区, 夏季的降温幅度大于冬季。东亚地区小冰期温度较之1860年和20世纪分别偏冷0.3℃和0.6℃。小冰期的降水异常中心位于低纬地区, 主要表现为赤道中东太平洋降水负异常和赤道中西太平洋降水正异常, 以及位于热带印度洋的降水偶极子型。除欧洲和北美外, 全球其他地区陆地降水均减少。东亚地区小冰期夏季降水的变化最为显著, 较之1860年, 华北、 东北地区降水增加, 而长江流域以南降水则减少; 较之20世纪, 东部降水异常表现出华北地区偏多、长江流域偏少、华南地区偏多的“三极型” 分布特征。     

全新世中国陆地生态系统碳储量变化的估算

 利用重建的中国全新世植被图和现代植被碳密度资料,初步估算了全新世期间中国及其分区每2 ka陆地生态系统碳储量的变化情况。结果表明：近10 ka期间,中国陆地生态系统碳储量在6 ka BP前后达到最大,此后开始降低,尤其是近2 ka降幅明显。新石器时期,特别是农业文明开始以后,人类活动对陆地植被的持续干预可能是造成陆地生态系统碳储量长期减少的主要原因。     

全新世中国陆地生态系统碳储量变化的估算

利用重建的中国全新世植被图和现代植被碳密度资料,初步估算了全新世期间中国及其分区每2 ka陆地生态系统碳储量的变化情况。结果表明：近10 ka期间,中国陆地生态系统碳储量在6 ka BP前后达到最大,此后开始降低,尤其是近2 ka降幅明显。新石器时期,特别是农业文明开始以后,人类活动对陆地植被的持续干预可能是造成陆地生态系统碳储量长期减少的主要原因。     

Recurrent climate winter regimes in reconstructed and modelled 500 hPa geopotential height fields over the North Atlantic/European sector 1659–1990

Recurrent climate winter regimes are examined from statistically reconstructed and modelled 500 hPa geopotential height fields over the North Atlantic/European sector for the period 1659–1990. We investigate the probability density function of the state space spanned by the first two empirical orthogonal functions of combined winter data. Regimes are detected as patterns that correspond to areas of the state space with an unexpected high recurrence probability using a Monte Carlo approach. The reconstruction and the model reveal four recurrent climate regimes. They correspond to the two phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation and two opposite blocking patterns. Complemented by the investigation of the temporal evolution of the climate regimes this leads to the conclusion that the reconstructed and the modelled data for this geographic sector reproduce low-frequency atmospheric variability in the form of regime-like behaviour. The overall evidence for recurrent climate regimes is higher for the model than for the reconstruction. However, comparisons with independent data sources for the period 1659–1990 revealed a more realistic temporal evolution of the regimes for the reconstructed data. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

Peculiarities of climatic changes in cloud cover over the Russian Federation

Modern climatic changes in cloud cover over Russia are analyzed from standard ground-based meteorological observations in 1951–2000 and information on cloudiness obtained from the actinometrical observations in 1976–2000. In addition to studies of changes in total cloud amount, a special attention is paid to the distribution of basic forms of cloudiness with respect to their frequency. A spatial generalization of the results for large-scale regions (the European and Asian parts of Russia) allowed revealing dominant tendencies in cloud cover changes that are slightly related to seasons of year and reflect large-scale changes in cloud characteristics in the second half of the 20th century.     

贵州省50年来气候变化特征

利用1951～2000年贵州省15个气象站的月平均气温、降水量资料,对贵州省50年来的气候变化作了全面的分析.     

Accumulation over the Greenland Ice Sheet as Represented in Reanalysis Data

Annual precipitation,evaporation,and calculated accumulation from reanalysis model outputs have been investigated for the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS),based on the common period of 1989-2001.The ERA-40 and ERA-interim reanalysis data showed better agreement with observations than do NCEP-1 and NCEP-2 reanalyses.Further,ERA-interim showed the closest spatial distribution of accumulation to the observation.Concerning temporal variations,ERA-interim showed the best correlation with precipitation observations at five synoptic stations,and the best correlation with in situ measurements of accumulation at nine ice core sites.The mean annual precipitation averaged over the whole GrIS from ERA-interim (363 mm yr 1) and mean annual accumulation (319 mm yr 1) are very close to the observations.The validation of accumulation calculated from reanalysis data against ice-core measurements suggests that further improvements to reanalysis models are needed.