Urbanization and heterogeneous surface warming in eastern China

With the homogeneity-adjusted surface air temperature (SAT) data at 312 stations in eastern China for 1979-2008 and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) nighttime light data, the spatial heterogeneities of the SAT trends on different scales are detected with a spatial filtering (i.e. moving spatial anomaly) method, and the impact of urbanization in eastern China on surface warming is analyzed. Results show that the urbanization can induce a remarkable summer warming in Yangtze River Delta (YRD) city cluster region and a winter warming in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) city cluster region. The YRD warming in summer primarily results from the significant increasing of maximum temperature, with an estimated urban warming rate at 0.132-0.250℃ per decade, accounting for 36%-68% of the total regional warming. The BTH warming in winter is primarily due to the remarkable increasing of minimum temperature, with an estimated urban warming rate at 0.102-0.214℃ per decade, accounting for 12%-24% of the total regional warming. The temporal-spatial differences of urban warming effect may be attributed to the variation of regional climatic background and the change of anthropogenic heat release.     

Estimation of urbanization bias in observed surface temperature change in China from 1980 to 2009 using satellite land-use data

Since the 1980s,China has undergone rapid urbanization.Meanwhile,the climate has been warming substantially.In this paper,the urbanization effect on observed temperatures from 1980 to 2009 in China is estimated,based on analysis of urban land use from satellite observation.Urban land-use expansion(U) during 1980-2005 is applied as an urbanization index.According to these U values,stations are divided into three categories:(C1) intense urbanization around the stations;(C2) moderate urbanization around the stations;and(C3) minimal urbanization around the stations.Most C1 stations are in municipalities or provincial capitals,while C2 stations tend to be in prefecture-level cities.C3 stations are mostly in counties.The urban heat island(UHI) effect can be estimated if the urban effect on C3 is negligible.The warming of C1 or C2 relative to that of C3 represents their urbanization effects,assuming that the same larger-scale natural warming has affected each category.For C1,the local urbanization effect is 0.258°C/10 a over 1980-2009,accounting for 41% of the total warming;the trend at C2 is 0.099°C/10 a,or 21%.For all China,the urbanization effect is 0.09°C/10a,accounting for 20% of the total national warming.Winter urban warming is greater than in summer.The assumption of negligible urbanization effect on C3 is debatable,and so the true urbanization effect may equal or slightly exceed estimates.Further,the U index may have some uncertainties,for it is only one of the urbanization indices.However,it provides a new and direct estimation of environmental change,in contrast to indirect indices.     

Recent temperature increase recorded in an ice core in the source region of Yangtze River

Interests on climate change in the source region of Yangtze River have been raised since it is a region with the greatest warming over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). A 70-year history of precipitation δ~(18)O has been recovered using an ice core record retrieved in a plat portion of the firn area in the Guoqu Glacier (33°34′37.8″N, 91°10′35.3″E, 5720 m a.s.l.), Mt. Geladaindong (the source region of Yangtze River), in November, 2005. By using a significant positive relationship between ice core δ~(18)O record and summer air temperature (July to September) from the nearby meteorological stations, a history of summer air temperature has been reconstructed for the last 70 years. Summer temperature was relatively low in 1940s and high in 1950s to the middle of 1960s. The lowest temperature occurred in the middle of 1970s. Temperature was low in 1980s and dramatically increased since 1990s, keeping the trend to the begin-ning of the 21st century. The warming rate recorded in the ice core with 0.5℃/10 a since 1970s is much higher that that in the central TP and the Northern Hemisphere (NH), and it becomes 1.1℃/10 a since 1990s which is also higher than these from the central TP and the NH, reflecting an accelerated warm-ing and a more sensitive response to global warming in the high elevation region.     

Impacts of climate warming on plants phenophases in China for the last 40 years

Based on plant phenology data from 26 stations of the Chinese Phenology Observation Network of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the climate data, the change of plant phenophase in spring and the impact of climate warming on the plant phenophase in China for the last 40 years are analyzed. Furthermore, the geographical distribution models of phenophase in every decade are reconstructed, and the impact of climate warming on geographical distribution model of phenophase is studied as well. The results show that (ⅰ) the response of phenophase advance or delay to temperature change is nonlinear. Since the 1980s, at the same amplitude of temperature change, phenophase delay amplitude caused by temperature decrease is greater than phenophase advance amplitude caused by temperature increase; the rate of phenophase advance days decreases with temperature increase amplitude, and the rate of phenophase delay days increases with temperature decrease amplitude. (ⅱ) The geographical distribution model between phenophase and geographical location is unstable. Since the 1980s, with the spring temperature increasing in the most of China and decreasing in the south of Qinling Mountains, phenophases have advanced in northeastern China, North China and the lower reaches of the Changjiang River, and have delayed in the eastern part of southwestern China and the middle reaches of the Changjiang River; while the rate of the phenophase difference with latitude becomes smaller.     

Arctic Oscillation influence on daily temperature variance in winter over China

The relationship between the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and daily temperature variance of 150 Chinese stations are investigated in the present study for wintertime (1 November through 31 March) in the period of 1954--2001. Resuits show that the temperature variance significantly decreases during the high AO years,and increases in low AO cases. A key factor connecting them is the Siberian High,particularly the high-frequency fluctuations of the High.Within the seasonal time scale, the frequency of low-temperature extremes (daily temperature anomaly below-2σ,σ is the standard deviation of daily temperature for a given winter and a given station) displays an odd relation to the variance: a larger (smaller) variance is found to be associated with smaller (greater) frequency of low-temperature events. That is due to the non-normal distribution of the temperatures, and also influenced by the phases of AO. During the last 50 years or so, AO experiences a significant increasing trend, meanwhile the variance of daily sea level pressure (SLP) in the central region of Siberian High has decreased at a rate of-10.7%/10 a. These result in a significant weakening of the daily temperature variance in China with a trend of -4.1%/10 a, and a significant increase in the intra-seasonal low-temperature extremes at a rate of 0.16d/10 a.     

The climate influence of anthropogenic land-use changes on near-surface wind energy potential in China

There is considerable interest in the potential impact of climate change on wind energy in China. The climate change of near-surface wind energy potential in China under the background of global warming and its association with anthropogenic land-use changes are investigated by calculating the difference in surface wind speeds between the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and the observations since the reanalysis dataset contains the influence of large-scale climate changes due to greenhouse gases, it is less sensitive to regional surface processes associated with land types. The surface wind data in this study consist of long-term observations from 604 Chinese Roution Meteorological Stations and the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1960-1999. The results suggest that the observed mean wind speeds significantly weakened and the near-surface wind power trended downward due to urbanization and other land-use changes in the last 40 years. The mean wind energy weakened by -3.84 W·m^-2 per decade due to the influence of anthropogenic land-use change, which is close to the observed climate change （-4.51 W·m^-2/10 a）.     

Millennial temperature reconstruction based on tree-ring widths of Qilian juniper from Wulan, Qinghai Province, China

The climate of the past 1000 years is an important context for evaluating the recent climate warming. However, there are few 1000-year-long climate reconstructions with annual resolution in the Qinghal-Tibet Plateau. In this paper, a dendroclimatic analysis was conducted for the radial growth of Qilian juniper from the upper forest limit in Wulan, Qinghai Province. The results of correlation analysis between the tree-ring widths and the climate variables indicate that the growth of junipers at the upper forest limit is mainly limited by low temperatures of September, November and February of the pregrowth season, and July of the current growth season. There is no significant correlation between the tree-ring widths and precipitation. A mean temperature from the previous year＇s September to the current year＇s April was reconstructed for the Wulan area since A.D. 1000. The reconstruction can explain 40.8% of the instrumental variance in the calibration period （1856-2002）. The reconstruction shows that the 20th century is the warmest 100 years, and the 1990s is the warmest decade during the past 1000 years, while the coldest 100 years and decade occur at 1600-1699 and 1642-1651, respectively. The variations are verified well by the temperature reconstruction of the middle Qilian Mountain （QL） and the total organic carbon （TOC） in the Qinghai Lake sediments. The comparison of our reconstruction with the annual temperature reconstruction of extra-tropical Northern Hemisphere suggests that the climate of Wulan during the Medieval Warm Period is of obvious regional specialty, but there was a good response to the climate of hemispheric scales during the recent 400 years.     

The utilization of water resources and its variation tendency in Tarim River Basin

Water resources efficient utilization is the key to ecological improvement and economic development in Tarim River Basin. It is necessary to analyze the water resources utilization and its variation tendency in the whole river basin. Based on the monitored data and formation at eight meteorological stations and fifteen hydrological stations, the method of time series, regression analysis are applied to analyzing the water resources utilization and variation trend in the headstreams and mainstream areas especially in recent 10 years. The quantitative results indicate that inflows of the headstream areas have an increasing trend to different extent in the past 40 years. The runoff increasing trend is more significant from1994 to 2002, which show the water resources condition in the headstreams is at an advantage. However, under the condition of water increase with the volume of 25×10^8 m^3 in headstreams in recent 10 years, the mainstream water flowing from the headstreams has increased less than 0.9985×10^8 m^3. In addition, the runoff at the different hydrologic stations along the Tarim River has a significant linear de- creasing trend. It is shown that the degraded trend of ecological environment in the mainstream areas hardly changes even if the Tarim River Basin is in the special water period for ten consecutive years.     

Practice of Italian Trend Book in China

In the past five years, trendy information spread via imported renowned fashion magazines appeared unable to satisfy the industrial needs. Trend books from Milan and Paris have been introduced to big cities in China through official Chinese national agencies, and have gradually drawn more attention within the Chinese fashion industry. Chinese fashion businesses and their designers have difficulties in using the trend book. The main reason is that they don＇t understand the whole structure re of the book, the true meaning of the instruction and the way to use the book. Most companies are not using the book in the correct way. However, if no one realizes this is not the right key to the real fashion design world, an incorrect design logic and abnormal production chain will appear in China which will directly produce an unhealthy impact to the country. It＇s only possible to catch up and grasp the real European trend with Europe at the same time when the trend books are used correctly.     

Effects of elevation on spring phenological sensitivity to temperature in Tibetan Plateau grasslands

Vegetation phenology is an important indicator of climate change impacts on the seasonal dynamics of the biosphere. However, little is known about the influence of elevation on spring phenological sensitivity to temperature in an alpine ecosystem. Based on remotely sensed land surface phenology and temperature data from 2001 to 2010, this study investigated the rate of spring phenological change of the Tibetan Plateau （TP） grasslands in response to interannual temperature variations at different elevations. Results suggest that spring phenology in the TP grasslands exhibits a stronger response to changes in temperature at higher elevations than at lower ones. In particular, spring phenology advanced by 1-2 days in response to a 1 ℃ increase in May average temperature at elevations from 3,000 to 3,500 m, while the rate was up to 8-9 days/℃ at 5,000-5,500 m. Analysis using accumulated growing degree days （AGDD） from January 1 through May 31 showed the same general trend with increased elevation associated with increased sensitivity （as measured by phenological change per unit of AGDD change）. Such temperature sensitivity gradients in the TP grasslands could be partly explained by the growth efficiency hypothesis which suggests that vegetation adapted to colder climates likely requires less heat energy for the onset of growing season and vice versa in warmer climates. Furthermore, accumulated growing degree days from January 1 to the greenup date were found to decrease with increasing elevations, which provided evidence to support the applicability of the growth efficiency hypothesis in an alpine grassland ecosystem.     

Decadal change of the East Asian summer monsoon and its related surface temperature in Asia-Pacific during 1880–2004

The East Asian summer monsoon （EASM） and its related change of surface temperature in the past century were not clearly ad- dressed due to absence of atmospheric reanalysis data before 1948. On the benchmark of station-observed sea level pressure （SLP） in China, we utilized multiple SLP datasets and evaluated their qualities in measuring the SLP-based EASM index （EASMI）. It is found that the EASMI based on the SLP of the Hadley center version 2 （HadSLP2） has shown the best performance on the inter- annual and decadal time scales. Instead of showing a linear weakening trend pointed out by the previous study, the EASMI has likely exhibited the decadal variability, characterized by weakened trends during 1880-1906, 1921-1936, and 1960-2004, and with enhanced trends during 1906-1921 and 1936-1960, respectively. Corresponding to the weakened and enhanced periods of EASMI since the 1920s, the surface air temperature （SAT） index （SATI） averaged in eastern China has likely shown a warming and a cooling trend, respectively. However, the decadal abrupt transitions between the two indices do not occur concurrently, which results in a weak correlation between two indices on the decadal time scale. Further analysis indicates that there are four key regions where the SAT is significantly correlated with the EASMI, suggesting the joint impact of surface temperature in Asia-Pacific on the EASM during 1880-2004. In which, the decadal change of SAT near the Lake Baikal plays an important role in the linear trends of the EASM before and after 1960.     

Runoff sensitivity to climate changes in the Longitudinal Range-Gorge Region （LRGR）： An example of the Longchuan Basin in the Upper Yangtze

The sensitivity of runoff to the climate change in the Longitudinal Range-Gorge Region （LRGR） in southwest China was investigated with a case study in the Longchuan Basin of the upper Yangtze River, where the climate change is more complex due to the influences from both global warming and local topography. Non-updating artificial neural networks were calibrated and validated at the baseline condition and were used to predict the response of runoff under 25 hypothetical climate scenarios, which were generated by adjusting the baseline temperature by -1, 0, 1, 2 and 3℃ and by scaling rainfall by 0%, ± 10% and ± 20%, The results indicated that runoff is more sensitive to the increase in rainfall. The annual and seasonal runoff changes were determined by the interaction between temperature and rainfall. At seasonal scale, the direction of change in runoff is more determined by temperature in winter and spring; whereas it is more determined by rainfall in summer and autumn. The LRGR in southwest China may experience a higher frequency of floods in the wet season and more serious droughts in the dry season, if a wetter summer and warmer winter is the trend of future climate change, as predicted by many GCMs.     

Localized 3D-structural features of dynamic-chemical processes of urban air pollution in Beijing winter

The Beijing City Air Pollution Observation Field Experiment (BECAPEX) is described with emphases on the “point-surface” research approach and composite analysis. The analysis results of measurements from four observation sites across the Beijing urban area from January to March indicate that the overall impact of urban emission sources in the heating season is significant, and the staggered impact of urban emission sources has different features at observation sites over different parts of Beijing in both heating and non-heating seasons. The pollutants NOx, SO2 and CO in the urban boundary layer have the in-phase variation features over a large area. 03 concentrations at different sites have the same variation trend but its change is reversed phases with above pollutants. The pollutants over the urban area in heating and non-heating seasons also have the synchronous variation trend. The comprehensive sounding of BECAPEX indicates that pollutants and aerosol verticalprofiles are closely correlated to the vertical structure of the large-scale inversion layer in the urban boundary layer over the urban area. The localized 3D-structural features of local urban polluting processes associated with the peripheral areas are discussed with a “point-surface” comprehensive sounding technique.     

Impacts of climate warming on heating energy consumption and southern boundaries of severe cold and cold regions in China

Impacts of climate warming on heating energy consumption and southern boundaries of severe cold and cold regions of China in the past 20 years are analyzed by using daily and monthly average tem- perature data from 590 weather stations in China and based on regulations of Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Design Rules (GB50019-2003) and Thermal Design Rules for Civil Building (GB50175-93) (China National Standard). The contribution of climate warming to coal saving for heating during cold seasons in major cities is calculated according to indices of coal consumption for heating in major cities during cold seasons defined in Energy Conservation Design Standard for New Heating Residential Buildings (JCJ26-95). Comparing with the period before 1980, southern boundaries of se- vere cold and cold regions shift toward north up to 2 degrees in latitude since the mid-1980s. Theo- retically, climate warming could contribute to 5%―10% coal savings for heating since the mid-1980s in major cities, and even more since the mid-1990s.     

Spatiotemporal distribution and decadal change of the monthly temperature predictability limit in China

Based on the nonlinear Lyapunov exponent and nonlinear error growth dynamics, the spatiotemporal distribution and decadal change of the monthly temperature predictability limit （MTPL） in China is quantitatively analyzed. Data used are daily temperature of 518 stations from 1960 to 2011 in China. The results are summarized as follows： （1） The spatial distribution of MTPL varies regionally. MTPL is higher in most areas of Northeast China, southwest Yunnan Province, and the eastern part of Northwest China. MTPL is lower in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Huang-huai Basin. （2） The spatial distribution of MTPL varies distinctly with seasons. MTPL is higher in boreal summer than in boreal winter. （3） MTPL has had distinct decadal changes in China, with increase since the 1970s and decrease since 2000. Especially in the northeast part of the country, MTPL has significantly increased since 1986. Decadal change of MTPL in Northwest China, Northeast China and the Huang-huai Basin may have a close relationship with the persistence of temperature anomaly. Since the beginning of the 21st century, MTPL has decreased slowly in most of the country, except for the south. The research provides a scientific foundation to understand the mechanism of monthly temperature anomalies and an important reference for improvement of monthly temperature prediction.     

Interdecadal trend turning of global terrestrial temperature and precipitation during 1951–2002

A grid-by-grid counting of interdecadal trend turning (ITT) of annual mean surface air temperature (SAT) and total precipitation at 67,359 terrestrial grids in the period 1951–2002 is presented. An analysis of the last ITTs of SAT and total precipitation in the period, in the context of both occurrence time and linear trends after the breakpoint, indicates that a warming trend has become highly significant across most of the world in the late 20th Century. Most terrestrial grids have recorded an ITT of total precipitation in either the 1970s or 1980s, and 45.7% of the terrestrial grids in the study have seen a decreasing trend in total annual precipitation after the breakpoint, with the remaining 54.3% having experienced an increasing trend. Basically, global terrestrial regions have experienced either an increasingly warm and dry climate or an increasingly warm and wet climate. An analysis of ITT of regional mean SAT and total precipitation in 22 regions shows the northern American continent has become increasingly warm and dry after the last inter-decadal breakpoint. Meanwhile, the African continent has become increasingly warm and wet, with both Europe and most of Asia having the same trend. Southern South America and the west of Australia have experienced an opposite trend in climate, becoming increasingly cold and wet.     

Sea surface temperature record from the north of the East China Sea since late Holocene

Using the alkenone paleotemperature index U37^k, a high-resolution sea surface temperature （SST） record since 3600 a BP was reconstructed from the mud area in the north of the East China Sea. Combining with the grain size distribution curve of sensitive grain size group, which may reflect the East Asia Winter Monsoon activity, the palaeoenvironmental evolution cycle throughout the late Holocene in the area was obtained. The marine environment evolution during the last 3600 years displays a five-stage trend. （1） Temperature descending period from 0.85 cal. ka BP to present. The maximum temperature decrease amplitude is 2℃. The winter monsoon intensified and ＇Little Ice Age＇ were recorded in this period. （2） Warming period from 1.90 to 0.85 cal. ka BP. The mean temperature increase amplitude is 0.8℃. The Sui-Tang warming period was recorded at about 0.85--1.35 cal. ka BP and a prominent cooling event was recorded at 1.4 cal. ka BP in this period. （3） Temperature descending period from 2.55 to 1.90 cal. ka BP. Temperature cooling amplitude is 0.9℃. This period is coincident with an integrated temperature circle recorded in the Antarctic ice core, with the temperature changes from a slow cooling stage to a rapid warming stage. （4） Temperature comparatively stable with a little ascending period from 3.2 to 2.55 cal. ka BP. Temperature warming amplitude is 0.3℃. This period is coincident with the temperature fluctuant ascending period recorded in Antarctic ice core. （5） Temperature comparatively stable with little descending period from 3.6 to 3.2 cal. ka BP. This period corresponds with the temperature fluctuant cooling period recorded in Antarctic ice core. Basically, those five periods were coincident with the Antarctic ice core record. During the global cooling stage, the SST change in the continental shelf sea can be adjusted simultaneously.     

A comparison of iron phthalocyanine and cobalt porphyrin on the electrochemical catalysis in Ni-MH battery

The effects of iron phthalocyanine （FePc） and cobalt porphyrin （CoPp） on inner pressure and cycle behavior of sealed Ni-MH batteries were investigated in this study. The morphology of battery electrode was observed by SEM. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of floating-charge/discharge battery was also measured. Experimental results show that the addition of FePc or CoPp to the alloy electrode is an effective approach to decrease the internal pressure of battery during the process of charge and overcharge. In contrast to CoPp, the battery with FePc exhibits a slower capacity decay and a smaller overpotential at the same charge-discharge rate. As an electrocatalyst, FePc may more effectively speed up the reduction of oxygen, and decrease its reduction potential. As a result, the charge process is accelerated, the gas evolution is reduced and the pulverization of electrode materials is slowed down.     

Correlations between North Atlantic Oscillation Index in winter and eastern China Flood/Drought Index in summer in the last 530 years

The time series of winter North Atlantic Oscillation Index （NAOI） in the period of 1429-1983 developed by Glueck and summer Flood/Drought Index （FDI） of eastern China in the period of 1470-1999 from I00 stations are used in this paper to study the potential impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the climate in China. The analysis has explored some significant lag correlations between FDI and NAOI. The maximum positive correlation coefficients between NAOI and area-mean FDI in eastern and northern China lagging 2-3 years reach at 0.001 significance level, and while there are also negative correlation between NAOI and FDI in central and southern China at significance level of 0.05-0.01. The correlation between FDI and NAOI is time-dependent, i.e. the correlation coefficients between two indices vary from period to period. The highest correlation appeared in the period of 1636-1742, around the Little Ice Age, with the significant level of far above 0.001. The second significant period was from 1951 to 1999, at the level of 0.005-0.002. Both the power spectrum analysis and Morlet wavelet transformation have presented an interesting phenomenon： the area-mean FDIs in eastern and northern China share almost the same oscillation periods with NAOI in the inter-annual, decadal and centurial scales＇ oscillations, i.e. 4-5, about I0, 20-30, around 50 and 80-100 years, etc. The Mann-Kendall Rank Statistic test reveals the significant trend and decadal abrupt changes in the series of area-mean FDIs in eastern and northern China in the past 530 years, while the NAOI in the past 400 years, did not show such trend at the significance level, but presented more frequent changes than those of FDI in China. This difference is perhaps due to the fact that the amplitude of the extremes of reconstructed NAOI series is less than that from instrumental records.     

Paleotemperature changes over the past 3000 years in eastern Beijing,China:A reconstraction based on Mg/Sr records in a stalagmite

The Mg/Sr ratio in a stalagmite,whic is directly proportinonal to DMg/Ca,the solid-liquid distribution coefficient of Mg,is proposed as a geochemical thermometer to estimate paleotemperature changes,The paleotemperature change in eastern Beijing over the past 3000 years has been reconstructed by using this thermometer in the stalagmite ZFFS-1 from Jingdong Cave,The records can be divided into two periods:3000-2000 aBP,cool and wet ,the air temperature averaging 9.8℃;and 2000aBP-present, hot and dry,the air temperature being 1℃ higher than the mean value (11.7℃) of the past 3000 years ,During 500-200 aBP,the air temperature was about 1.2℃ lower than that of the present,corresponding to the Little Ice Age Europe Like δ^18O and δ^C ,Mg/Sr (or DMg/Ca) reflects and obviously warming trend of the past 200 years,These results are supported by historic recods.