Quasi-periodicity of temperature changes on the millennial scale

Quasi-periodicity of temperature changes on the millennial scale is found according to the proxy data both from historical documents and natural evidence in China. The auto-correlation of the temperature changes series for the last 2000 years is most significant on the 1350 a time lag. The period of 1350 a includes 4 warm/cold stages: 200～250 a warm stage, 150～200 a cold stage, 300～350 a warm stage, and 550～600 a cold stage. In contrast to the 550～600 a cold stage, the other three stages can be united in one warm dominant stage. Inferred from the 1350 a period, the 20th century warm stage belongs to the 200～250 a warm stage, which is similar to the warm stage occurring during the 570's～770's. The process of temperature change in the 20th century warm stage is similar to that of the 570's～770's. But the warming rate in the 20th century is more rapid. The temperature anomaly in the 1980's～1990's shows a greater departure from the regression equation of that between 1500's～1900's and 150's～650's. Whether it can be regarded as the forcing of human activities is worth studying further.     

Climate in China during the four special periods in Holocene

Characteristics of temperature over China during the four special periods in the Holocene, i.e. the Megathermal, the Medieval Warm Period, the Little Ice Age and the Modem Warm Period, are analyzed. The Megath-ermal period was 8.5—3.0 kaBP.the maximum temperature appeared at about 5.5—6.0 ka and 7.0 kaBP, while the temperatures were about 2X1 above the average of the latest one hundred years. During the Medieval Warm Period, from the late 9th century to the 13th century, the temperatures were warmer over eastern China. Some maximum temperatures were close to the mean value in 1880s—1970s. However, the climate in the 12th century was cold. Over the west part of China, temperatures did not show the same features as that over the east except the moderate warmth appeared during the second half of the 9th century. There were five cold spells in China during the last millennium; in the early 12th, 14th and 16th centuries, the late of 15th century, the 17th and 19th centuries. In these cold periods, the last three spells can be considered as the Little Ice Age of China, the minimum of temperature anomaly was below - 1.01 and - 0.51 for the 10 years' and 30—50 years' mean respectively. The 20th century was the warmest in the last 12 centuries, and was 0.5t wanner than the last 1200 year's mean. During the last one hundred years, the warmest period appeared in 1920s—1940s, but the highest annual temperature occurred in 1998 in which the temperature anomaly was + 1.38t with respect to the mean temperaure of 1961s—1990s.     

太白山西佛爷池沉积物有机碳、氮同位素记录的过去1800多年的气候-环境变化

在秦岭主峰太白山南坡的冰蚀湖西佛爷池中取得一个深50cm 的沉积物柱芯(XFYC12-2)。对XFYC12-2的样品做加速器质谱(AMS) ¹⁴C 测年和有机碳、氮稳定同位素分析, 并据此重建这一高山湖泊周边过去1800多年的气候−环境变化。结果表明: 1811~1380 (或1440) aBP 偏冷干; 1380 (或1440)~840 aBP 温暖湿润, 这一阶段可能与中世纪暖期相当; 840~460 (或 520) aBP 转为寒冷干旱, 这一阶段或许相当于小冰期; 460(或 520)~100 aBP 又趋暖湿。上述气候?环境变化过程与太白山南坡高海拔地段另外两个湖附近的变化过程、中国东部地区的总体变化趋势及4 个代表性地点的变化过程相似。     

Reconstruction and analysis of time series of ENSO for the last 500 years

This paper reports the classification of ENSO into seven categories according to annual (March to February of next year) mean SST of Ni(n)o 3.4 and composite index (ΔI) for the period of 1861～2000. Categories +3, +2, and +1 denote very strong, strong and weak warm episodes (E), -3, -2, and -1 mean very strong, strong and weak cold episodes (A). Absolute SST anomalies are about 1.5 ℃, 1.0 ℃ and 0.5 ℃ respectively for the categories 3, 2, and 1 (or -3, -2, and -1). The normal years are expressed as category 0. Annual categories of ENSO are estimated on the basis of proxy data from AD 1501 to 1860. And a series of ENSO category is established for the period of 1501～2000 in conjunction with the observational data. Comparison of proxy data with observations for 1874～1973 indicates that about 80% of the El Ni(n)o years and La Ni(n)a years can be reconstructed from proxy data, and the reliability of the reconstruction is verified. Analysis of the power spectrum of the reconstructed ENSO series shows significant peaks at QBO, 3～4a (year), 5～6a, and 10a period, the former three are in accordance with the observations for the last 100 years or more. Studies on long term variability of ENSO indicates that ENSO frequency is relatively stationary during the last 500 years, including the Little Ice Age (LIA) (1550～1850) and Modern Warming Period (the 20th century). However, the frequency of E is a little higher in the 20th century and that of A is somewhat higher during the LIA.     

Periodic oscillations in millennial global-mean temperature and their causes

Time series of solar radiation and north Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) index were used to analyze their causality relationship with various periodic oscillations in reconstructed millennial global-mean temperature series. The three long-term periods of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), Little Ice Age (LIA) and recent Global Warming Period (GWP) were distinct in the temperature series. 21-year, 65-year, 115-year and 200-year oscillations were derived from the temperature series after removing three long-term climatic temperatures. The phases of temperature oscillations significantly lagged behind oceanic SST and solar radiation variability. The recent decadal warm period was caused by the quasi-21-year temperature oscillation. At this century-cross period, the four oscillations reached their peaks simultaneously, which did not occur during the last millennium. Based on the long-term trend during the GWP and the four periodic oscillations, global-mean temperature is expected to drop to a new cool period in the 2030s and then a rising trend would be towards to a new warm period in the 2060s.     

A comparison of the Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age and 20th century warming simulated by the FGOALS climate system model

To compare differences among the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), Little Ice Age (LIA), and 20th century global warming (20CW), six sets of transient and equilibrium simulations were generated using the climate system model FGOALS_gl. This model was developed by the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results indicate that MWP warming is evident on a global scale, except for at mid-latitudes of the North Pacific. However, the magnitude of the warming is weaker than that in the 20th century. The warming in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere is stronger than that in the Southern Hemisphere. The LIA cooling is also evident on a global scale, with a strong cooling over the high Eurasian continent, while the cooling center is over the Arctic domain. Both the MWP and the 20CW experiments exhibit the strongest warming anomalies in the middle troposphere around 200?C300 hPa, but the cooling center of the LIA experiment is seen in the polar surface of the Northern Hemisphere. A comparison of model simulation against the reconstruction indicates that model??s performance in simulating the surface air temperature changes during the warm periods is better than that during the cold periods. The consistencies between model and reconstruction in lower latitudes are better than those in high latitudes. Comparison of the inter-annual variability mode of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) rainfall during the MWP, LIA and 20CW reveals a similar rainfall anomalies pattern. However, the time spectra of the principal component during the three typical periods of the last millennium are different, and the quasi-biannual oscillation is more evident during the two warm periods. At a centennial time scale, the external mode of the EASM variability driven by the changes of effective solar radiation is determined by the changes of large scale land-sea thermal contrast. The rainfall anomalies over the east of 110°E exhibit a meridional homogeneous change pattern, which is different from the meridional out-of-phase change of rainfall anomalies associated with the internal mode.     

Simulated and reconstructed winter temperature in the eastern China during the last millennium

Since the 1990s, under the auspicious impetus of two international research programs, the “Past Global Changes” (PAGES) and the “Climate Variability and Pre- dictability” (CLIVAR), massive research work has been carried out on climate and environment changes over the past 2000 years[1-3]. But majority of the studies has been centered on obtaining various kinds of climatic proxy data (such as historical documents, tree rings, ice cores, lake cores) and focused on the reconstruction of…     

A comparison of the Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age and 20th century warming simulated by the FGOALS climate system model

To compare differences among the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), Little Ice Age (LIA), and 20th century global warming (20CW), six sets of transient and equilibrium simulations were generated using the climate system model FGOALS_gl. This model was developed by the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results indicate that MWP warming is evident on a global scale, except for at mid-l...     

Debating about the climate warming

Debating about the climate warming is reviewed. Discussions have focused on the validity of the temperature reconstruction for the last millennium made by Mann et al. Arguments against and for the reconstruction are introduced. Temperature reconstructions by other authors are examined, including the one carried out by Wang et al. in 1996. It is concluded that: (1) Ability of reproducing temperature variability of time scale less than 10 a is limited, so no sufficient evidence proves that the 1990s was the warmest decade, and 1998 was the warmest year over the last millennium. (2) All of the temperature reconstructions by different authors demonstrate the occurrence of the MWP (Medieval Warm Period) and LIA (Little Ice Age) in low frequency band of temperature variations, though the peak in the MWP and trough in LIA varies from one reconstruction to the others. Therefore, terms of MWP and LIA can be used in studies of climate change. (3) The warming from 1975 to 2000 was significant, but we do not know if it was the strongest for the last millennium, which needs to be proved by more evidence.     

中国中世纪暖期温度的时空变化特征

采用全球海气耦合模式ECHO-G的1000个模式年的长积分气候模拟方法分析了中国中世纪暖期温度的存在性与时空变化特征.结果表明：中国的中世纪暖期出现在公元1000—1250年间,但它不是一个持续稳定的暖期,而是存在峰谷起伏变化,其中最暖的30年（中世纪暖期鼎盛期）出现在1131—1160年.中世纪暖期中国的年平均和冬、夏季平均温度距平变幅西部最大,东部最小.其鼎盛期中国的温度距平相对于千年温度都是正值,中国东部的增温幅度由南向北逐渐加大,变幅为0.4℃—0.8℃,而中国西部的增温呈Ω型分布,且随着海拔高度的增加,增温幅度逐渐加大,最大增温达2.0℃—2.2℃.     

Reconstruction of temperature series of China for the last 1000 years

This paper reports a study on reconstructing temperature series for ten regions of China over the last 1000 years with a time resolution of 10 a. The regions concerned are: Northeast, North, East, South China, Taiwan, Central, Southwest, Northwest China, Xinjiang and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A variety of proxy data, such as ice core, tree-rings, stalagmites, peat, lake sediments, pollen and historical records, were validated with instrumental observations made in the last 120 years, and applied in the recon- struction of the temperature series. A temperature series for whole China is then established by aver- aging the ten regional series with a weighting proportional to the area of each region. Finally, tem- perature variations for the last 1000 years are examined, with special focus placed on the characteris- tics of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), the Little Ice Age (LIA), and Modern Warming (MW).     

Temperature variations on the Tibetan Plateau over the last two millennia

The paleoclimate data recovered from ice cores,tree rings and lake sediments indicate regional features of cfimatic change on the Tibeta n Plateau (TP) during the last 2000 years. The composite temperature reconstructions in-dicate that several main climatic episodes, such as the “LittleIce Age“ between 1400 and 1900, the “Medieval Warm Pe-riod“ in 1150-1400, a less warm period in 800-1100, and an earlier cold period between the 3rd and 5th centuries,occurred in the TP. In addition, temperature varied from region to region. The period from AD 800 to 1100, which waswarm in northeastern TP, was contemporaneous with cool-ing in the western and southern TP. The southern TP ex-perienced warming between 1150 and 1400. For western TP,the δ^18O records of the Guliya ice core indicate that the pe-Hod 1250-1500 witnessed a clear warming. Large-scaletrends in the temperature history from northeastern TP aremore similar to those in eastern China than are the trendsfrom the Guliya ice cap far to the west and southern TP. The most prominent similarities between the temperature varia-tions of the TP and eastern China are such cold phases as 1100-1150, 1500-1550, 1650-1700 and 1800-1850, andthe latter three cold events match with three widespreadg lacial advances which occurred on the TP during the Little Ice A2e.     

Characteristics of decadal-centennial-scale changes in East Asian summer monsoon circulation and precipitation during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age and in the present day

Using meteorological observations, proxies of precipitation and temperature, and climate simulation outputs, we synthetically analyzed the regularities of decadal-centennial-scale changes in the summer thermal contrast between land and ocean and summer precipitation over the East Asian monsoon region during the past millennium; compared the basic characteristics of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation and precipitation in the present day, the Little Ice Age (LIA) and the Medieval Warm Period (MWP); and explored their links with solar irradiance and global climate change. The results indicate that over the last 150 years, the EASM circulation and precipitation, indicated by the temperature contrast between the East Asian mainland and adjacent oceans, had a significant decadal perturbation and have been weaker during the period of rapid global warming over the past 50 years. On the centennial time scale, the EASM in the MWP was strongest over the past 1000 years. Over the past 1000 years, the EASM was weakest in 1450-1570. When the EASM circulation was weaker, the monsoon rain belt over eastern China was generally located more southward, with there being less precipitation in North China and more precipitation in the Yangtze River valley; therefore, there was an anomalous pattern of southern flood/northern drought. From the 1900s to 1920s, precipitation had a pat- tern opposite to that of the southern flood/northern drought, with there being less precipitation in the Yangtze River valley and more precipitation in North China. Compared with the case for the MWP, there was a longer-time-scale southern flood/northern drought phenomenon in 1400-1600. Moreover, the EASM circulation and precipitation did not synchronously vary with the trend of global temperature. During the last 150 years, although the annual mean surface temperature around the world and in China has increased, the EASM circulation and precipitation did not have strengthening or weakening trends. Over the past 1000 years, the weakest EASM occurred ahead of the lowest Northern Hemispheric temperature and corresponded to the weakest solar irradiance.     

Global mean temperature changes during the last millennium

A synthetic study is made on the global or hemispheric mean temperature series for the last millennium worked out by Mann et al., Jones et al., Crowley and Lowery, and Briffa. The global mean temperature series reconstructed by using proxy data at 30 sites by Wang et al. and simulations from AD 1000 to 2000 by energy balance model are described and compared with the series of others. Wang's series gives greater variability and shows the highest correlation coefficient (0.83) with the simulation results. Uncertainties in the reconstructions and simulations are discussed. The errors in reconstructing a global mean temperature series according to 30 sites as used in the research are estimated. Wang's series indicate that temperature average for the 11th century is higher than the mean of the last millennium. It infers that the Medieval Warm Period predominated to some extent over the globe. However, the 20th century is no doubt the warmest century during the last millennium.     

青藏高原中西部湖泊生物标志物记录的过去两千年气候变化

以青藏高原中西部湖泊达则错和阿翁错为研究对象,通过分析湖泊沉积物岩芯中GDGTs、长链不饱和烯酮与叶蜡化合物单体氢同位素等生物分子标志物获得过去2000 a以来青藏高原中西部定量的温度与降水同位素记录,以期探讨晚全新世以来不同时段青藏高原气候变化区域特征,并揭示过去2000 a季风与西风对青藏高原影响范围的变化.结果表明:(1)青藏高原气候变化存在强烈的区域性特征,两个湖泊均存在中世纪暖期(MWP),但是暖期持续的时间有所不同,高原西部(阿翁错) MWP持续时间明显长于高原中部(达则错);达则错有明显的小冰期(LIA)降温,阿翁错没有发现明显的LIA,可能受样品分辨率低的影响;过去200 a达则错温度有缓慢降低趋势,可能是冰融水补给湖泊温度变化滞后于气候变化的表现.(2)过去2000 a印度夏季风在青藏高原的最北界线可能发生了北移,在距今1000～2000 a,夏季风边界线位于阿翁错以北、达则错以南;但在过去1000 a印度季风边界线移动到阿翁错和达则错以北.     

Amplitudes, rates, periodicities and causes of temperature variations in the past 2485 years and future trends over the central-eastern Tibetan Plateau

Amplitudes, rates, periodicities, causes and future trends of temperature variations based on tree rings for the past 2485 years on the central-eastern Tibetan Plateau were analyzed. The results showed that extreme climatic events on the Plateau, such as the Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age and 20th Century Warming appeared synchronously with those in other places worldwide. The largest amplitude and rate of temperature change occurred during the Eastern Jin Event (343?C425 AD), and not in the late 20th century. There were significant cycles of 1324 a, 800 a, 199 a, 110 a and 2?C3 a in the 2485-year temperature series. The 1324 a, 800 a, 199 a and 110 a cycles are associated with solar activity, which greatly affects the Earth surface temperature. The long-term trends (>1000 a) of temperature were controlled by the millennium-scale cycle, and amplitudes were dominated by multi-century cycles. Moreover, cold intervals corresponded to sunspot minimums. The prediction indicated that the temperature will decrease in the future until to 2068 AD and then increase again.     

New evidence for the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau as a pilot region of climatic fluctuation in China

Over 40 a observed temperature data in 172 stations in China and historical proxy data were analyzed. Evidence suggested that during 1980–1994, the warmest year appeared first in southeastern part of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (henceforth SETP) and then gradually spread northwards and eastwards to eastern China. The climatic change on century time scale in recent 600 a shows 3 relatively warm and clod stages in China. Each warm and cold stage appeared first in Tibet Plateau (henceforth TP) and then in the Qilian Mountains, then in the eastern parts of China. The warm and cold stages in TP were 10–60 a earlier than in the eastern China. The facts show that TP is a pilot region of climatic fluctuation in China on the time scale shorter than 10³a.     

Characteristics of decadal-centennial-scale changes in East Asian summer monsoon circulation and precipitation during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age and in the present day

Using meteorological observations, proxies of precipitation and temperature, and climate simulation outputs, we synthetically analyzed the regularities of decadal-centennial-scale changes in the summer thermal contrast between land and ocean and summer precipitation over the East Asian monsoon region during the past millennium; compared the basic characteristics of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation and precipitation in the present day, the Little Ice Age (LIA) and the Medieval Warm Period (MWP); and explored their links with solar irradiance and global climate change. The results indicate that over the last 150 years, the EASM circulation and precipitation, indicated by the temperature contrast between the East Asian mainland and adjacent oceans, had a significant decadal perturbation and have been weaker during the period of rapid global warming over the past 50 years. On the centennial time scale, the EASM in the MWP was strongest over the past 1000 years. Over the past 1000 years, the EASM was weakest in 1450?C1570. When the EASM circulation was weaker, the monsoon rain belt over eastern China was generally located more southward, with there being less precipitation in North China and more precipitation in the Yangtze River valley; therefore, there was an anomalous pattern of southern flood/northern drought. From the 1900s to 1920s, precipitation had a pattern opposite to that of the southern flood/northern drought, with there being less precipitation in the Yangtze River valley and more precipitation in North China. Compared with the case for the MWP, there was a longer-time-scale southern flood/northern drought phenomenon in 1400?C1600. Moreover, the EASM circulation and precipitation did not synchronously vary with the trend of global temperature. During the last 150 years, although the annual mean surface temperature around the world and in China has increased, the EASM circulation and precipitation did not have strengthening or weakening trends. Over the past 1000 years, the weakest EASM occurred ahead of the lowest Northern Hemispheric temperature and corresponded to the weakest solar irradiance.     

Simulated analysis of summer climate on centennial time scale in eastern China during the last millennium

Using Lanczos filtered simulation results from the ECHO-G coupled ocean-atmosphere model, this study analyzes the spatiotemporal structure of temperature and precipitation on centennial time scale to examine how climate change in eastern China responded to external forcing during the last millennium. The conclusions are (1) eastern China experienced a warm-cold-warm climate transition, and the transition from the warm period to the cold period was slower than the cold to warm transition which followed it. There was more rainfall in the warm periods, and the transitional peak and valley of precipitation lag those of temperature. The effective solar radiation and solar irradiance have significant impacts on the temporal variation of both temperature and precipitation. Volcanic activity plays an important role in the sudden drop of temperature before the Present Warm Period (PWP). There is a positive correlation between precipitation and volcanic activity before 1400 A.D., and a negative relationship between the two thereafter. The concentration of greenhouse gases increases in the PWP, and the temperature and precipitation increase accordingly. (2) The spatial pattern of the first leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode of temperature on centennial time scale is consistent with that on the inter-annual/inter-decadal (IA-ID) time scales; namely, the entirety of eastern China is of the same sign. This pattern has good coherence with effective solar radiation and the concentrations of greenhouse gases. The first leading EOF mode of precipitation on centennial time scale is totally different from that on the IA-ID time scales. The first leading mode of centennial time scale changes consistently over the entirety of eastern China, while the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are the opposite to the rest of eastern China is the leading spatial pattern on IA-ID time scale. The distribution of precipitation on centennial time scale is affected by solar irradiance and greenhouse gas concentrations.     

Recent 2000-year geological records of mud in the inner shelf of the East China Sea and their climatic implications

AMS^14C dating and grain-size analysis for Core DD2, located at the north of the Yangtze River-derived mud off the Zhejiang-Fujian coasts in the inner shelf of the East China Sea, provide us a high-resolution grain-size distribution curve varying with depth and time. Data in the upper mud layer of Core DD2 indicate that there are at least 9 abrupt grain-size increasing in recent 2000 years, with each corresponding very well with the low-temperature events in Chinese history, which might result from the periodical strengthening of the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM), including the first-revealed maximum temperature lowering event at around 990 a BP. At the same time, the finer grain size section in Core DD2 agrees well with the Sui-Tang Warming Period (600--1000 a AD) defined previously by Zhu Kezhen, during which the climate had a warm, cold and warm fluctuation, with a dominated cooling period of 750-850 a AD. The Little Ice Age (LIA) can also be identified in the core. It starts around 1450 a AD and was followed by a subsequent cooling events at 1510, 1670 and 1840 a AD. Timing of these cold events revealed here still needs to be further verified owing to some current uncertainty of dating we used in this study.