Study of terrestrial carbon flux by eddy covariance method in revegetated manganese mine spoil dump at Gumgaon,India

The micrometeorological technique of eddy covariance is a powerful tool for characterizing the carbon (C) budget of terrestrial ecosystems. Eddy covariance method was used for estimating Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide between atmosphere and revegetated manganese mine spoil dump at Gumgaon, India. In this paper, we analyzed the diel CO₂ flux pattern and its response to various physical environmental conditions. The carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems is particularly sensitive to climatic changes. Study of diel pattern of CO₂ flux showed that carbon uptake was dependent on sunlight. Effect of temperature and latent heat on the CO₂ flux showed that rate of CO₂ uptake increased proportionally, but later declined due to various factors like stomatal response, high evaporative demand, circadian rhythm and/or a combination of all three. Net ecosystem production of revegetated land was found to be 28.196 KgC/ha/day whereas average net carbon release by the ecosystem, through respiration was observed to be 5.433 KgC/ha/day. Thus, quantifying net carbon (C) storage in degraded land is a necessary step in the validation of carbon sequestration estimates and in assessing the possible role of these ecosystems in offsetting adverse impacts of fossil fuel emissions.     

Impact of Cloud Microphysical Processes on the Simulation of Typhoon Rananim near Shore. Part II: Typhoon Intensity and Track

The impact of cloud microphysical processes on the simulated intensity and track of Typhoon Rananim is discussed and analyzed in the second part of this study. The results indicate that when the cooling effect due to evaporation of rain water is excluded, the simulated 36-h maximum surface wind speed of Typhoon Rananim is about 7 m s⁻¹ greater than that from all other experiments; however, the typhoon landfall location has the biggest bias of about 150 km against the control experiment. The simulated strong outer rainbands and the vertical shear of the environmental flow are unfavorable for the deepening and maintenance of the typhoon and result in its intensity loss near the landfall. It is the cloud microphysical processes that strengthen and create the outer spiral rainbands, which then increase the local convergence away from the typhoon center and prevent more moisture and energy transport to the inner core of the typhoon. The developed outer rainbands are supposed to bring dry and cold air mass from the middle troposphere to the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The other branch of the cold airflow comes from the evaporation of rain water itself in the PBL while the droplets are falling. Thus, the cut-off of the warm and moist air to the inner core and the invasion of cold and dry air to the eyewall region are expected to bring about the intensity reduction of the modeled typhoon. Therefore, the deepening and maintenance of Typhoon Rananim during its landing are better simulated through the reduction of these two kinds of model errors.     

Seasonal Prediction of Spring Dust Weather Frequency in Beijing

In this paper, seasonal prediction of spring dust weather frequency (DWF) in Beijing during 1982-2008 has been performed. First, correlation analyses are conducted to identify antecedent climate signals during last winter that are statistically significantly related to spring DWF in Beijing. Then, a seasonal prediction model of spring DWF in Beijing is established through multivariate linear regression analysis, in which the systematic error between the result of original prediction model and the observation, averaged over the last 10 years, is corrected. In addition, it is found that climate signals occurring synchronously with spring dust weather, particularly meridional wind at 850 hPa over western Mongolian Plateau, are also linked closely to spring DWF in Beijing. As such, statistical and dynamic prediction approaches should be combined to include these synchronous predictors into the prediction model in the real-time operational prediction, so as to further improve the prediction accuracy of spring DWF in Beijing, even over North China. However, realizing such a prediction idea in practice depends essentially on the ability of climate models in predicting key climate signals associated with spring DWF in Beijing.     

A linear projection for the timing of unprecedented climate in Korea

Recently we have had abnormal weather events worldwide that are attributed by climate scientists to the global warming induced by human activities. If the global warming continues in the future and such events occur more frequently and someday become normal, we will have an unprecedented climate. This study intends to answer when we will have an unprecedented warm climate, focusing more on the regional characteristics of the timing of unprecedented climate. Using an in-situ observational data from weather stations of annual-mean surface air temperature in Korea from 1973 to 2015, we estimate a timing of unprecedented climate with a linear regression method. Based on the in-situ data with statistically significant warming trends at 95% confidence level, an unprecedented climate in Korea is projected to occur first in Cheongju by 2043 and last in Haenam by 2168. This 125-year gap in the timing indicates that a regional difference in timing of unprecedented climate is considerably large in Korea. Despite the high sensitivity of linear estimation to the data period and resolution, our findings on the large regional difference in timing of unprecedented climate can give an insight into making policies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, not only for the central government but for provincial governments.     

Observed trends in various aspects of compound heat waves across China from 1961 to 2015

Based on combined thresholds of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, a compound heat wave is defined, and then changes in multiple aspects of such heat waves in China are estimated between 1961 and 2015. Our results intriguingly indicate that severe compound heat waves in northern China are characterized by excessively high intensity within short duration, while long duration determines great disaster-causing potential of severe events in the south. In the past few decades, large areas of China have experienced longer, stronger, and more frequent compound heat waves. Northern China has witnessed dramatic intensity increases, with a maximum amplification over 5°C decade^–1; while remarkable lengthening in duration has been mostly recorded in the south, with a maximum trend over 1 day decade^–1. The spatial extent affected by compound heat waves has significantly expanded since the 1960s, with the largest expanding rate over 6% decade^–1 detected in North China and Northeast China. These systematic assessments serve to deepen our understanding of observed changes in compound heat waves across China, and may further shed some light on future adaptations and mitigations against an increasingly warming climate.     

A comparison of the effects of interannual Arctic sea ice loss and ENSO on winter haze days: Observational analyses and AGCM simulations

This study compares the impacts of interannual Arctic sea ice loss and ENSO events on winter haze days in mainland China through observational analyses and AGCM sensitivity experiments. The results suggest that (1) Arctic sea ice loss favors an increase in haze days in central–eastern China; (2) the impact of ENSO is overall contained within southern China, with increased (reduced) haze days during La Niña (El Niño) winters; and (3) the impacts from sea ice loss and ENSO are linearly additive. Mechanistically, Arctic sea ice loss causes quasi-barotropic positive height anomalies over the region from northern Europe to the Ural Mountains (Urals in brief) and weak and negative height anomalies over the region from central Asia to northeastern Asia. The former favors intensified frequency of the blocking over the regions from northern Europe to the Urals, whereas the latter favors an even air pressure distribution over Siberia, Mongolia, and East Asia. This large-scale circulation pattern favors more frequent occurrence of calm and steady weather in northern China and, as a consequence, increased occurrence of haze days. In comparison, La Niña (El Niño) exerts its influence along a tropical pathway by inducing a cyclonic (anticyclonic) lower-tropospheric atmospheric circulation response over the subtropical northwestern Pacific. The northeasterly (southwesterly) anomaly at the northwestern rear of the cyclone (anticyclone) causes reduced (intensified) rainfall over southeastern China, which favors increased (reduced) occurrence of haze days through the rain-washing effect.     

Policy solutions in the U.S.

The paper focuses on relocation, retreat, zoning, insurance, and subsidy as major dimensions of coastal hazard mitigation measures that have resurfaced as potent forces for combating coastal inundation and climate change. It reviews the issues surrounding the practice of these measures and discusses compatibilities of policies, engineering measures, and natural defense. Property rights, development interest, and distorted financial incentives pose as main barriers to coastal relocation and retreat policies in hazard-prone areas. To understand and propose coastal adaptation solutions, the paper recommends place-based studies of local coastal adaptation strategies. Place-based studies offer an in-depth knowledge of local conditions specifically regarding the level of implementation of hazard mitigation policies, and shed light on important trade-offs and synergies of various hazard policies. In addition, coupling existing hazard mitigation policies with coastal management and community management can better inform long-term and comprehensive planning of coastal adaptation.     

Systematic under- and overestimation of GHG reductions in renewable biomass systems

This paper identifies a critical systematic error in greenhouse gas accounting in renewable biomass systems. While CO₂ emissions from renewable biomass energy systems are generally considered to have a net impact of 0, no similar adjustment is made for carbon-based products of incomplete combustion, such as methane, in renewable systems. This results in an under- or overestimation of the impact of CH₄ by 12.3% and CO by ∼478% in renewable systems. This error is propagated both in scientific studies and in carbon accounting policies. We advocate first for full-carbon accounting of biomass-derived emissions, but also provide adjusted global warming impacts for emissions from proven renewable systems.     

An overview of dry-wet climate variability among monsoon-westerly regions and the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone in China

Climate in mainland China can be divided into the monsoon region in the southeast and the westerly region in the northwest as well as the intercross zone, i.e., the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone that is oriented from Southwest China to the upper Yellow River, North China, and Northeast China. In the three regions, dry-wet climate changes are directly linked to the interaction of the southerly monsoon flow on the east side of the Tibetan Plateau and the westerly flow on the north side of the Plateau from the inter-annual to inter-decadal timescales. Some basic features of climate variability in the three regions for the last half century and the historical hundreds of years are reviewed in this paper. In the last half century, an increasing trend of summer precipitation associated with the enhancing westerly flow is found in the westerly region from Xinjiang to northern parts of North China and Northeast China. On the other hand, an increasing trend of summer precipitation along the Yangtze River and a decreasing trend of summer precipitation along the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone are associated with the weakening monsoon flow in East Asia. Historical documents are widely distributed in the monsoon region for hundreds of years and natural climate proxies are constructed in the non-monsoon region, while two types of climate proxies can be commonly found over the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone. In the monsoon region, dry-wet variation centers are altered among North China, the lower Yangtze River, and South China from one century to another. Dry or wet anomalies are firstly observed along the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone and shifted southward or southeastward to the Yangtze River valley and South China in about a 70-year timescale. Severe drought events are experienced along the monsoon northernmost marginal active zone during the last 5 centuries. Inter-decadal dry-wet variations are depicted by natural proxies for the last 4--5 centuries in several areas over the non-monsoon region. Some questions, such as the impact of global warming on dry-wet regime changes in China, complex interactions between the monsoon and westerly flows in Northeast China, and the integrated multi-proxy analysis throughout all of China, are proposed.     

Stratiform Cloud—Inversion Characterization During the Arctic Melt Season

Data collected during July and August from the Arctic Ocean Experiment 2001 illustrated a common occurrence of specific-humidity (q) inversions, where moisture increases with height, coinciding with temperature inversions in the central Arctic boundary layer and lower troposphere. Low-level stratiform clouds and their relationship to temperature inversions are examined using radiosonde data and data from a suite of remote sensing instrumentation. Two low-level cloud regimes are identified: the canonical case of stratiform clouds, where the cloud tops are capped by the temperature inversion base (CCI—Clouds Capped by Inversion) and clouds where the cloud tops were found well inside the inversion (CII—Clouds Inside Inversion). The latter case was found to occur more than twice as frequently than the former. The characteristic of the temperature inversion is shown to have an influence on the cloud regime that was supported. Statistical analyses of the cloud regimes using remote sensing instruments suggest that CCI cases tend to be dominated by single-phase liquid cloud droplets; radiative cooling at the cloud top limits the vertical extent of such clouds to the inversion base height. The CII cases, on the other hand, display characteristics that can be divided into two situations—(1) clouds that only slightly penetrate the temperature inversion and exhibit a microphysical signal similar to CCI cases, or (2) clouds that extend higher into the inversion and show evidence of a mixed-phase cloud structure. An important interplay between the mixed-phase structure and an increased potential for turbulent mixing across the inversion base appears to support the lifetime of CII cases existing within the inversion layer.