Modeling the impact of urbanization on the local and regional climate in Yangtze River Delta, China

The Yangtze River Delta Economic Belt is one of the most active and developed areas in China and has experienced quick urbanization with fast economic development. The weather research and forecasting model (WRF), with a single-layer urban canopy parameterization scheme, is used to simulate the influence of urbanization on climate at local and regional scales in this area. The months January and July, over a 5-year period (2003–2007), were selected to represent the winter and summer climate. Two simulation scenarios were designed to investigate the impacts of urbanization: (1) no urban areas and (2) urban land cover determined by MODIS satellite observations in 2005. Simulated near-surface temperature, wind speed and specific humidity agree well with the corresponding measurements. By comparing the simulations of the two scenarios, differences in near-surface temperature, wind speed and precipitation were quantified. The conversion of rural land (mostly irrigation cropland) to urban land cover results in significant changes to near-surface temperature, humidity, wind speed and precipitation. The mean near-surface temperature in urbanized areas increases on average by 0.45?±?0.43°C in winter and 1.9?±?0.55°C in summer; the diurnal temperature range in urbanized areas decreases on average by 0.13?±?0.73°C in winter and 0.55?±?0.84°C in summer. Precipitation increases about 15% over urban or leeward areas in summer and changes slightly in winter. The urbanization impact in summer is stronger and covers a larger area than that in winter due to the regional east-Asian monsoon climate characterized by warm, wet summers and cool, dry winters.     

Anomalies in temperature and rainfall during warm Arctic seasons as a guide to the formulation of climate scenarios

Recently much concern has been expressed regarding the impact of an increased atmospheric CO₂ concentration on climate. Unfortunately, present understanding and models of the climate system are not good enough for reliable prediction of such impacts. This paper presents an analysis of recent climate data in order to illustrate the nature of regional temperature and rainfall changes in different seasons and to provide some guidance with regard to points which might be borne in mind when scenarios of future climate (especially those taking into account human impacts) are being formulated.Since it is believed that an increased atmospheric CO₂ concentration will cause a warming and models and data suggest that the Arctic is more sensitive to climatic change than other latitudes, anomalies associated with warm Arctic seasons have been studied.The regional temperature, precipitation and pressure anomalies in the northern hemisphere for the 10 warmest Arctic winters and 10 warmest Arctic summers during the last 70 years have been investigated. Even when the Arctic area is warm, there are circulation changes such that large coherent anomalies occur elsewhere, with some regions warming and some cooling. The 10 warmest Arctic winters were characterised by larger amplitude anomalies, in the Arctic and elsewhere, than the 10 warmest summers, illustrating the difference in response between seasons. The precipitation differences for the 10 warmest Arctic winters and summers show for North America large coherent areas of increase or decrease, which again differ according to season. However, in winter the differences are not statistically significant, while the differences in two areas are significant in summer.     

Some mechanisms of mid-Holocene climate change in Europe,inferred from comparing PMIP models to data

We propose a new approach for comparing mid-Holocene climates from 18 PMIP simulations with climate reconstructions of winter and growing season temperatures and the annual water budget inferred from European pollen and lake-level data. A cluster analysis is used to extract patterns of multivariate climate response from the reconstructions; these are then compared to the patterns simulated by models. According to paleodata, summers during mid-Holocene were warmer-than-present in the north, and cooler-than-present in the south, while winters were colder-than-present in the southwest but milder-than-present in the northeast. Whereas warmer summers and colder winters may easily be explained as a direct response to the amplified seasonal cycle of insolation during the mid-Holocene, the other recorded responses are less straightforward to explain. We have identified, from the models that correctly simulate the recorded climate change, two important atmospheric and hydrological processes that can compensate for direct insolation effects. First, a stronger-than-present airflow from southwestern Europe that veers to the north over Eastern Europe, in winter, can consistently explain the reconstructed changes in this seasons temperatures and water budget. Second, the increased winter soil moisture allows a shift of the partitioning of net radiative energy towards latent rather than sensible heat fluxes, thereby decreasing surface temperature during the following summer season. Our approach therefore solves one of the recurring problems in model-data comparisons that arises when a model simulates the correct response but in the wrong location (as a consequence, for instance, of model resolution and topography).     

The Analysis on the Features of the Atmospheric Circulation in Preceding Winters for the Summer Drought and Flooding in the Yangtze And Huaihe River Valley

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Precipitation extremes in a karst region: a case study in the Guizhou province, southwest China

The topography of hilly landscapes modifies crop environment changing the fluxes of water and energy, increasing risk in these vulnerable agriculture systems, which could become more accentuated under climate change (drought, increased variability of rainfall). In order to quantify how wheat production in hilly terrain will be affected by future climate, a newly developed and calibrated micro-meteorological model for hilly terrain was linked to a crop growth simulation model to analyse impact scenarios for different European regions. Distributions of yield and growing length of rainfed winter wheat and durum wheat were generated as probabilistic indices from baseline and low (B2) and high (A2) emission climate scenarios provided from the Hadley Centre Regional Climate Model (HadRM3). We used site-specific terrain parameters for two sample catchments in Europe, ranging from humid temperate (southeast UK) to semi-arid Mediterranean (southern Italy). Results for baseline scenario show that UK winter wheat is mainly affected by annual differences in precipitation and yield distributions do not change with terrain, whilst in the southern Mediterranean climate yield variability is significantly related to a slope × elevation index. For future climate, our simulations confirm earlier predictions of yield increase in the UK, even under the high emission scenario. In the southern Mediterranean, yield reduction is significantly related to slope × elevation index increasing crop failure in drier elevated spots but not in wet years under baseline weather. In scenarios for the future, the likelihood of crop failure rises sharply to more than 60%, and even in wet years, yields are likely to decrease in elevated spots.     

The impact of weather and climate on tourist demand: the case of Chester Zoo

Warmer, drier summer weather brought by global climate change should encourage use of outdoor leisure facilities. Yet few studies assess the effect of current weather and climate conditions upon visits to leisure attractions. Statistical time series models are used to analyse the short-run impact of weather and the long-run impact of climate upon visits to Chester Zoo, England. Temperature has a non-linear effect on visit levels. Daily visits rise with temperature up to a threshold around 21 °C. Thereafter visitor numbers drop on hot days. Visits are redistributed over time in accordance with the weather. Visitors discouraged by rainy weather one day turn up later when the weather improves. Otherwise, visitor behaviour is mainly influenced by the annual rhythm of the year and the pattern of public and school holidays. Out-of-sample tests suggest almost 70 % of the variation in visit levels can be explained by the combination of weather and time of year. Climate change is likely to redistribute visitors across the year. But it does not follow that “summer” visitor behaviour will transfer to spring and autumn. Day length, existing patterns of human activity and availability of leisure time constrain visit levels regardless of better weather. The main implication of potential climate change is the need for physical adaptation of the tourist environment as temperatures rise and rainfall diminishes in summer.     

Climate Changes in the 21st Century over the Asia-Pacific Region Simulated by the NCAR CSM and PCM

The Climate System Model (CSM) and the Parallel Climate Model (PCM), two coupled global climate models without flux adjustments recently developed at NCAR, were used to simulate the 20th century climate using historical greenhouse gas and sulfate aerosol forcing. These simulations were extended through the 21st century under two newly developed scenarios, a business-as-usual case (BAU, CO2≈710 ppmv in 2100) and a CO2 stabilization case (STA550, CO2≈540 ppmv in 2100). The simulated changes in temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture over the Asia-Pacific region (10°-60°N, 55°-155°E) are analyzed, with a focus on the East Asian summer monsoon rainfall and climate changes over the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Under the BAU scenario, both the models produce surface warming of about 3-5℃ in winter and 2-3℃ in summer over most Asia. Under the STA550 scenario, the warming is reduced by 0.5-1.0℃ in winter and by 0.5℃ in summer. The warming is fairly uniform at the low latitudes and does not induce significant changes in the zonal mean Hadley circulation over the Asia-Pacific do main. While the regional precipitation changes from single CSM integrations are noisy, the PCM ensemble mean precipitation shows 10%-30% increases north of ～ 30°N and ～ 10% decreases south of ～ 30°N over the Asia-Pacific region in winter and 10%-20% increases in summer precipitation over most of the region. Soil moisture changes are small over most Asia. The CSM single simulation suggests a 30% increase in river runoff into the Three Gorges Dam, but the PCM ensemble simulations show small changes in the runoff.     

Assessing Winter Wheat Responses to Climate Change Scenarios: A Simulation Study in the U.S. Great Plains

Hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major crop in the Great Plains region of the U.S. The goal of this assessment effort was to investigate the influence of two contrasting global climate change projections (U.K. Hadley Center for Climate Prediction and Research and Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis) on the yield and percent kernel nitrogen content of winter wheat at three locations in Nebraska. These three locations represent sub-humid and semi arid areas and the transition between these areas and are also representative of major portions of the winter wheat growing areas of the central Great Plains. Climate scenarios based on each of the projections for each location were developed using the LARS-WG weather generator along with data from automated weather stations. CERES-Wheat was used to simulate the responses for two contrasting cultivars of wheat using two sowing dates. The first sowing date represented current sowing dates appropriate for each location. The second sowing date was later and represents the approximate date when the mean air temperature from the climate scenarios is the same as the mean air temperature from the actual climate data at the current sowing dates. The yield and percent kernel nitrogen content using the two climate scenarios generally decrease going from the sub-humid eastern to the semi arid western parts of Nebraska. Results from these simulations indicate that yield and percent kernel nitrogen content using the two climate scenarios could not both be maintained at levels currently simulated. Protein content (directly related to kernel nitrogen content) and end-use quality are the primary determinants for the use of hard red winter wheat in baked goods. Nitrogen management and new cultivars, which can enhance the uptake and translocation of nitrogen, will be proactive steps to meet the challenges of global climate change as represented by these climate scenarios.     

A multi-model ensemble of downscaled spatial climate change scenarios for the Dommel catchment, Western Europe

Regional or local scale hydrological impact studies require high resolution climate change scenarios which should incorporate some assessment of uncertainties in future climate projections. This paper describes a method used to produce a multi-model ensemble of multivariate weather simulations including spatial–temporal rainfall scenarios and single-site temperature and potential evapotranspiration scenarios for hydrological impact assessment in the Dommel catchment (1,350 km²) in The Netherlands and Belgium. A multi-site stochastic rainfall model combined with a rainfall conditioned weather generator have been used for the first time with the change factor approach to downscale projections of change derived from eight Regional Climate Model (RCM) experiments for the SRES A2 emission scenario for the period 2071–2100. For winter, all downscaled scenarios show an increase in mean daily precipitation (catchment average change of +9% to +40%) and typically an increase in the proportion of wet days, while for summer a decrease in mean daily precipitation (−16% to −57%) and proportion of wet days is projected. The range of projected mean temperature is 7.7°C to 9.1°C for winter and 19.9°C to 23.3°C for summer, relative to means for the control period (1961–1990) of 3.8°C and 16.8°C, respectively. Mean annual potential evapotranspiration is projected to increase by between +17% and +36%. The magnitude and seasonal distribution of changes in the downscaled climate change projections are strongly influenced by the General Circulation Model (GCM) providing boundary conditions for the RCM experiments. Therefore, a multi-model ensemble of climate change scenarios based on different RCMs and GCMs provides more robust estimates of precipitation, temperature and evapotranspiration for hydrological impact assessments, at both regional and local scale.     

Projected Climate Change in the Northwestern Arid Regions of China: An Ensemble of Regional Climate Model Simulations

The projected temperature and precipitationchange under different emissions scenarios using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 models over the northwestern arid regions of China(NWAC) were analyzed using the ensemble of three high-resolution dynamical downscaling simulations: the simulation of the Regional Climate Model version 4.0(Reg CM4) forced by the Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model version 1.1(BCC_CSM1.1); the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 3 regional climate model(Had GEM3-RA) forced by the Atmosphere-Ocean coupled Had GEM version 2(Had GEM2-AO); and the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF) model forced by the Norwegian community Earth System Model(Nor ESM1-M). Model validation indicated that the multimodel simulations reproduce the spatial and temporal distribution of temperature and precipitation well. The temperature is projected to increase over NWAC under both the 4.5 and 8.5 Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios(RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively) in the middle of the 21 st century, but the warming trend is larger under the RCP8.5 scenario. Precipitation shows a significant increasing trend in spring and winter under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5; but in summer, precipitation is projected to decrease in the Tarim Basin and Junggar Basin. The regional averaged temperature and precipitation show increasing trends in the future over NWAC; meanwhile, the large variability of the winter mean temperature and precipitation may induce more extreme cold events and intense snowfall events in these regions in the future.     

Climate change and water resources in the Bagmati River Basin,Nepal

This paper characterizes potential hydrological impact of future climate in the Bagmati River Basin, Nepal. For this research, basinwide future hydrology is simulated by using downscaled temperature and precipitation outputs from the Hadley Centre Coupled Model, version 3 (HadCM3), and the Hydrologic Engineering Center's Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS). It is predicted that temperature may rise maximally during the summer rather than winter for both A2 and B2 Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) scenarios. Precipitation may increase during the wet season, but it may decrease during other seasons for A2 scenario. For B2 scenario, precipitation may increase during all the seasons. Under the A2 scenario, premonsoon water availability may decrease more in the upper than the middle basin. During monsoons, both upper and middle basins show increased water availability. During the postmonsoon season, water availability may decrease in the upper part, while the middle part shows a mixed trend. Under the B2 scenario, water availability is expected to increase in the entire basin. The analysis of the projected hydrologic impact of climate change is expected to support informed decision-making for sustainable water management.     

Increasing prevalence of extreme summer temperatures in the U.S.

Human-caused climate change can affect weather and climate extremes, as well as mean climate properties. Analysis of observations and climate model results shows that previously rare (5th percentile) summertime average temperatures are presently occurring with greatly increased frequency in some regions of the 48 contiguous United States. Broad agreement between observations and a mean of results based upon 16 global climate models suggests that this result is more consistent with the consequences of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations than with the effects of natural climate variability. This conclusion is further supported by a statistical analysis based on resampling of observations and model output. The same climate models project that the prevalence of previously extreme summer temperatures will continue to increase, occurring in well over 50% of summers by mid-century.     

CMIP5 simulated change in the intensity of the Hadley and Walker circulations from the perspective of velocity potential

Based on the simulations of 31 global models in CMIP5, the performance of the models in simulating the Hadley and Walker circulations is evaluated. In addition, their change in intensity by the end of the 21 st century(2080–2099) under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, relative to 1986–2005, is analyzed from the perspective of 200 h Pa velocity potential.Validation shows good performance of the individual CMIP5 models and the multi-model ensemble mean(MME) in reproducing the meridional(zonal) structure and magnitude of Hadley(Walker) circulation. The MME can also capture the observed strengthening tendency of the winter Hadley circulation and weakening tendency of the Walker circulation. Such secular trends can be simulated by 39% and 74% of the models, respectively. The MME projection indicates that the winter Hadley circulation and the Walker circulation will weaken under both scenarios by the end of the 21 st century. The weakening amplitude is larger under RCP8.5 than RCP4.5, due to stronger external forcing. The majority of the CMIP5 models show the same projection as the MME. However, for the summer Hadley circulation, the MME shows little change under RCP4.5 and large intermodel spread is apparent. Around half of the models project an increase, and the other half project a decrease. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the MME and 65% of the models project a weakening of the summer southern Hadley circulation.     

1951～2007年南疆地区气温异常的时空变化特征

采用1951～2007年南疆地区站点月平均气温资料和NCAR/NCEP气候月平均资料,运用二项式系数加权平均法、Morlet小波变换等方法分析了南疆地区冬季和夏季气温的季节—年际气候变化特征,及气温异常的时空变化特征.结论如下:南疆地区冬季和夏季气温在气候态上差异明显,1980年代以前的冬季主要为气温负异常,1980年代以后呈现气温异常升高,到2000年以后又开始出现偏冷趋势;夏季气温偏差小于冬季,57 a间南疆夏季气温大致出现两波振荡,异常偏热期大致处于1950年代、1970年代后期和21世纪初,呈20～25 a振荡.冷冬年的频次多于暖冬年,热夏年的频次多于凉夏年.偏冷年在57a时间段内所占比例最多,气温异常低的幅度大于气温异常高的幅度.南疆冬季气温存在2个显著振荡:6～10 a的年际周期和18～20 a的年代际周期;夏季气温有1个最显著的振荡,稳定的20 a为中心的周期.不同的年代和季节气温及气温偏差分布各不相同.从气温长期演变趋势来看不论冬夏南疆北部(天山山脉以南)气温升高,塔里木盆地以及南疆南部地区气温降低.冬季升温区的升温幅度比夏季升温区大,夏季降温区的降温幅度比冬季降温区大.     

European Circulation Patterns and Meteorological Situation in Estonia

Summary  An attempt has been made to relate a large-scale airflow classification to the local weather at two stations in Estonia. To describe the features of the general circulation over Europe, the large-scale circulation patterns (Grosswetterlagen) of the German Weather Service have been chosen. Daily precipitation and temperature deviations from the monthly mean in P?rnu and Tartu for 1961–1993 have been used. It can be said that the weather in Estonia shows a good relationship with the general circulation types (Zirkulationsformen) that are defined by means of the Grosswetterlagen. Zonal circulation brings to Estonia wet weather that in winter is warmer than average and in summer cooler than average. Mixed circulation is associated with warmer winters and average summers. Meridional circulation brings cold winters and variable weather in summer. To explain the large dispersion of values of meteorological elements within any one circulation type, a more detailed analysis of the relationships between circulation patterns and meteorological situation in Estonia is needed. Received June 17, 1998 Revised January 13, 1999     

High resolution modeling of the regional impacts of climate change on irrigation water demand

In the Arkansas River Basin in southeastern Colorado, surface irrigation provides most of the water required for agriculture. Consequently, the region’s future could be significantly affected if climate change impacts the amount of water available for irrigation. A methodology to model the expected impacts of climate change on irrigation water demand in the region is described. The Integrated Decision Support Consumptive Use model, which accounts for spatial and temporal variability in evapotranspiration and precipitation, is used in conjunction with two climate scenarios from the Vegetation-Ecosystem Modeling and Analysis Project. The two scenarios were extracted and scaled down from two general circulation models (GCMs), the HAD from the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and the CCC from the Canadian Climate Centre. The results show significant changes in the water demands of crops due to climate change. The HAD and CCC climate change scenarios both predict an increase in water demand. However, the projections of the two GCMs concerning the water available for irrigation differ significantly, reflecting the large degree of uncertainty concerning what the future impacts of climate change might be in the study region. As new or updated predictions become available, the methodology described here can be used to estimate the impacts of climate change.     

Seasonal relationship between temperature,precipitation and snow cover in a mountainous region

Summary An analysis of correlation coefficients for climatological data covering the period 1901–1994 or 1931–1994 for six locations in Switzerland has been made in order to highlight the relationships between temperature, precipitation (rain and snow) and snow in summer and in winter. The results show that colder summers tend to be associated with more precipitation, mainly in terms of the frequency of occurrence of precipitation, but also in terms of its abundancy. In winter, sites located at lower altitudes behave differently from those at higher elevations. At lower altitudes, warmer winters tend to be rainier and to have less snow (only a small part of winter precipitation falls in the form of snow). Above 1000–1500 m, correlations between temperature on the one hand, and precipitation or snow on the other, tend to be weaker than at lower elevations; warmer winters are associated with less snow but also with less precipitation in general, while the relationship between precipitation and snow is stronger.These results confirm that during cold periods of the past, such as Löbben Phase (1400 BC — 1230 BC) cold summers were probably linked to frequent and abundant precipitation. These conditions led to increased mortality as well as to population migrations. In terms of potential future global warming, if the current temperature/precipitation relationships remain unchanged, then warmer summers will likely be linked to a decrease in precipitation. Higher winter temperatures can be expected to lead to a general decrease of snow and to a decrease in precipitation, but only at higher elevations; warmer winters would conversely be associated with an increase in precipitation at lower altitudes.With 4 Figures     

Climate downscaling over South America for 1961–1970 using the Eta Model

This study shows the results from a regional climate simulation of the present-day climate, corresponding to the period 1961–1970 over South America, using the regional Eta Model nested within the HadAM3P model from the UK Hadley Centre. The simulation analysis is focused on assessing the capability of the nested regional model in representing spatial patterns of seasonal mean climate and the annual cycle of precipitation and temperature. The goals of this 10-year run for South America are to verify if the Eta Model can be used in climate-change scenarios and to verify if this model has the ability to generate added value for the South American continent. The Eta Model was chosen because there are few investigations using the Eta Model for long integrations over South America and because the vertical coordinate system used in this model is recommended for use over South America due to the presence of the Andes range. In the present 10-year simulation, the regional model reproduced many of the South American mesoscale climate features and together added new value to the driver model. Value was also added to the driver model by reducing seasonal biases in austral winter relative to austral summer. The regional model also exhibits better performance in the representation of low-level circulation, such as the topographically induced northwesterly flux.     

Projections of high resolution climate changes for South Korea using multiple-regional climate models based on four RCP scenarios. Part 1: surface air temperature

We projected surface air temperature changes over South Korea during the mid (2026-2050) and late (2076-2100) 21st century against the current climate (1981-2005) using the simulation results from five regional climate models (RCMs) driven by Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model, version 2, coupled with the Atmosphere- Ocean (HadGEM2-AO), and two ensemble methods (equal weighted averaging, weighted averaging based on Taylor’s skill score) under four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) scenarios. In general, the five RCM ensembles captured the spatial and seasonal variations, and probability distribution of temperature over South Korea reasonably compared to observation. They particularly showed a good performance in simulating annual temperature range compared to HadGEM2-AO. In future simulation, the temperature over South Korea will increase significantly for all scenarios and seasons. Stronger warming trends are projected in the late 21st century than in the mid-21st century, in particular under RCP8.5. The five RCM ensembles projected that temperature changes for the mid/late 21st century relative to the current climate are +1.54°C/+1.92°C for RCP2.6, +1.68°C/+2.91°C for RCP4.5, +1.17°C/+3.11°C for RCP6.0, and +1.75°C/+4.73°C for RCP8.5. Compared to the temperature projection of HadGEM2-AO, the five RCM ensembles projected smaller increases in temperature for all RCP scenarios and seasons. The inter-RCM spread is proportional to the simulation period (i.e., larger in the late-21st than mid-21st century) and significantly greater (about four times) in winter than summer for all RCP scenarios. Therefore, the modeled predictions of temperature increases during the late 21st century, particularly for winter temperatures, should be used with caution.     

气候系统模式对Hadley环流的模拟和未来变化预估

针对全球变暖背景下未来Hadley环流将如何变化这一问题,评估了气候系统模式对1970~1999年Hadley环流时空特征的模拟效能,并在此基础上选取能合理模拟Hadley环流空间结构、强度指数和边界指数变化的3个模式,通过多模式集合方法预估了未来Hadley环流在A1B排放情景下的可能演变。预估结果表明,在全球变暖背景下,相比于1970~1999年,到本世纪末期(2070~2099年),北半球Hadley环流在4个季节都将减弱,春季变化幅度相对较弱;南半球Hadley环流在冬季和夏季也会减弱,而在春季和秋季的变化不明显。另外,北半球Hadley环流的北边界除在夏季向南收缩外,在其它3个季节均向北伸展;南半球Hadley环流的南边界在4个季节均向极地方向移动。两个半球的Hadley环流在垂直方向还将向对流层上层伸展。