The hydrologic cycle in deep-time climate problems

Hydrology refers to the whole panoply of effects the water molecule has on climate and on the land surface during its journey there and back again between ocean and atmosphere. On its way, it is cycled through vapour, cloud water, snow, sea ice and glacier ice, as well as acting as a catalyst for silicate-carbonate weathering reactions governing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Because carbon dioxide affects the hydrologic cycle through temperature, climate is a pas des deux between carbon dioxide and water, with important guest appearances by surface ice cover.     

Constraints on radiative forcing and future climate change from observations and climate model ensembles

The assessment of uncertainties in global warming projections is often based on expert judgement, because a number of key variables in climate change are poorly quantified. In particular, the sensitivity of climate to changing greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere and the radiative forcing effects by aerosols are not well constrained, leading to large uncertainties in global warming simulations. Here we present a Monte Carlo approach to produce probabilistic climate projections, using a climate model of reduced complexity. The uncertainties in the input parameters and in the model itself are taken into account, and past observations of oceanic and atmospheric warming are used to constrain the range of realistic model responses. We obtain a probability density function for the present-day total radiative forcing, giving 1.4 to 2.4 W m-2 for the 5-95 per cent confidence range, narrowing the global-mean indirect aerosol effect to the range of 0 to -1.2 W m-2. Ensemble simulations for two illustrative emission scenarios suggest a 40 per cent probability that global-mean surface temperature increase will exceed the range predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), but only a 5 per cent probability that warming will fall below that range.     

气候变化影响下的流域水循环：回顾与展望?

随着全球气候变化的影响日益加剧,气候变化对流域水循环影响的研究成为普遍关注的焦点.数理统计和水文模拟两大手段的运用贯穿于过去30余年的研究当中,本文就其中所涉及的水文气象要素趋势分析、大气环流模式(GCMs)评估、降尺度技术及其选择、水文模型及其选择、不确定性分析5大内容的研究成果进行回顾与展望,以拉萨河流域为例综合运用前述技术分析区域气候变化特征及其对流域径流的影响.结果表明,在未来经济社会发展与气候变化情景下,流域径流时空分布不均匀性更加显著,具体表现为集中性增强,这给区域防洪抗旱与水资源配置等都带来了巨大挑战.通过系统阐述如何开展气候变化对流域水循环的影响研究及所包含的关键问题,可为后续相关研究和区域水资源管理提供科学依据与决策支撑.     

Vulnerability assessment of areas affected by Chinese cryospheric changes in future climate change scenarios

Using the definition of vulnerability provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,this paper assesses the vulnerability of areas affected by Chinese cryospheric changes from 2001 to 2020 and from 2001 to 2050 in A1 and B1scenarios.Seven indices are used in the vulnerability assessment:glacial area fraction,interannual variability of permafrost depth,interannual variability of surface snow area fraction,interannual variability of surface runoff,interannual variability of surface temperature,interannual variability of vegetation growth,and interannual variability of the human development index.Assessment results show that the overall vulnerability of the studied areas in China increases from east to west.The areas in the middle and eastern parts of China are less vulnerable compared with western parts and parts of the Tibetan Plateau.The highest vulnerability values are found from 1981 to 2000,and the least ones are found from 2001 to 2050.The vulnerable areas increase from the period of 1981 to 2000 to the period of 2001 to 2050,and the less vulnerable areas decrease.The highly vulnerable areas increase from the period of 1981 to 2000 to the period of 2001 to 2020 and then decrease from the period of 2001 to 2020 to the period of 2001 to 2050.This decrease in vulnerability is attributed to the decrease in exposure and sensitivity to Chinese cryospheric changes along with a concomitant increase in adaptation.     

Rapid changes of glacial climate simulated in a coupled climate model

Abrupt changes in climate, termed Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events, have punctuated the last glacial period (approximately 100-10 kyr ago) but not the Holocene (the past 10 kyr). Here we use an intermediate-complexity climate model to investigate the stability of glacial climate, and we find that only one mode of Atlantic Ocean circulation is stable: a cold mode with deep water formation in the Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland. However, a 'warm' circulation mode similar to the present-day Atlantic Ocean is only marginally unstable, and temporary transitions to this warm mode can easily be triggered. This leads to abrupt warm events in the model which share many characteristics of the observed Dansgaard-Oeschger events. For a large freshwater input (such as a large release of icebergs), the model's deep water formation is temporarily switched off, causing no strong cooling in Greenland but warming in Antarctica, as is observed for Heinrich events. Our stability analysis provides an explanation why glacial climate is much more variable than Holocene climate.     

Influence of the carbon cycle on the attribution of responsibility for climate change

The carbon cycle is one of the fundamental climate change issues.Its long-term evolution largely affects the amplitude and trend of human-induced climate change,as well as the formulation and implementation of emission reduction policy and technology for stabilizing the atmospheric CO2concentration.Two earth system models incorporating the global carbon cycle,the Community Earth System Model and the Beijing Normal University-Earth System Model,were used to investigate the effect of the carbon cycle on the attribution of the historical responsibility for climate change.The simulations show that when compared with the criterion based on cumulative emissions,the developed(developing)countries’responsibility is reduced(increased)by 6%–10%using atmospheric CO2concentration as the criterion.This discrepancy is attributed to the fact that the developed world contributed approximately61%–68%(61%–64%)to the change in global oceanic(terrestrial)carbon sequestration for the period from 1850 to2005,whereas the developing world contributed approximately 32%–49%(36%–39%).Under a developed world emissions scenario,the relatively larger uptake of global carbon sinks reduced the developed countries’responsibility for carbon emissions but increased their responsibility for global ocean acidification(68%).In addition,the large emissions from the developed world reduced the efficiency of the global carbon sinks,which may affect the long-term carbon sequestration and exacerbate global warming in the future.Therefore,it is necessary to further consider the interaction between carbon emissions and the carbon cycle when formulating emission reduction policy.     

Effects of historical land cover changes on climate

In order to explore the influence of anthropogenic land use on the climate system during the last mil- lennium, a set of experiments is performed with an Earth system model of intermediate complexity—— the McGill Paleoclimate Model (MPM-2). The present paper mainly focuses on biogeophysical effects of historical land cover changes. A dynamic scenario of deforestation is described based on changes in cropland fraction (RF99). The model simulates a decrease in global mean annual temperature in the range of 0.09-0.16℃, especially 0.14-0.22℃ in Northern Hemisphere during the last 300 years. The responses of climate system to GHGs concentration changes are also calculated for comparisons. Now, afforestation is becoming an important choice for the enhancement of terrestrial carbon sequestration and adjustment of regional climate. The results indicate that biogeophysical effects of land cover changes cannot be neglected in the assessments of climate change.     

荒漠化扩展对我国区域气候变化影响的数值模拟

使用区域气候模式RegCM3研究了西北沙漠面积变化对我国区域气候变化的影响．共设计了3组试验：控制试验A、沙漠面积扩展试验B、在试验B基础上增大粗糙高度的试验C．分析表明：中国西北沙漠区扩展后对中国夏季降雨量和中国夏季风有明显影响．结果表明：植被退化、荒漠化加剧会导致季风减弱,降水量减少,增大地面粗糙高度后的影响更为显著．     

Tropical climate changes at millennial and orbital timescales on the Bolivian Altiplano

Tropical South America is one of the three main centres of the global, zonal overturning circulation of the equatorial atmosphere (generally termed the 'Walker' circulation). Although this area plays a key role in global climate cycles, little is known about South American climate history. Here we describe sediment cores and down-hole logging results of deep drilling in the Salar de Uyuni, on the Bolivian Altiplano, located in the tropical Andes. We demonstrate that during the past 50,000 years the Altiplano underwent important changes in effective moisture at both orbital (20,000-year) and millennial timescales. Long-duration wet periods, such as the Last Glacial Maximum--marked in the drill core by continuous deposition of lacustrine sediments--appear to have occurred in phase with summer insolation maxima produced by the Earth's precessional cycle. Short-duration, millennial events correlate well with North Atlantic cold events, including Heinrich events 1 and 2, as well as the Younger Dryas episode. At both millennial and orbital timescales, cold sea surface temperatures in the high-latitude North Atlantic were coeval with wet conditions in tropical South America, suggesting a common forcing.     

气候变迁与中国战争史之间的关系综述

气候是政治命运的影响因素之一,在中国近5000a的历史中,气候共经历了4次寒冷期和数次暖期中的短暂冷期．气候的突变,特别是气候变冷给农业社会带来巨大的打击,从而成为战争爆发的导火索．通过对气候变迁以及中国战争史的叠加研究,发现战争的发生和气候变迁存在着很大的关联．     

河西走廊历史时期气候干湿状况变迁考略

检索整理了河西走廊史载以来的气候旱涝资料，采用湿润指数公式进行处理分析；探讨了该地区历史上气候干湿状况变迁的概貌     

Global warming and climate forcing by recent albedo changes on Mars

For hundreds of years, scientists have tracked the changing appearance of Mars, first by hand drawings and later by photographs. Because of this historical record, many classical albedo patterns have long been known to shift in appearance over time. Decadal variations of the martian surface albedo are generally attributed to removal and deposition of small amounts of relatively bright dust on the surface. Large swaths of the surface (up to 56 million km2) have been observed to darken or brighten by 10 per cent or more. It is unknown, however, how these albedo changes affect wind circulation, dust transport and the feedback between these processes and the martian climate. Here we present predictions from a Mars general circulation model, indicating that the observed interannual albedo alterations strongly influence the martian environment. Results indicate enhanced wind stress in recently darkened areas and decreased wind stress in brightened areas, producing a positive feedback system in which the albedo changes strengthen the winds that generate the changes. The simulations also predict a net annual global warming of surface air temperatures by approximately 0.65 K, enhancing dust lifting by increasing the likelihood of dust devil generation. The increase in global dust lifting by both wind stress and dust devils may affect the mechanisms that trigger large dust storm initiation, a poorly understood phenomenon, unique to Mars. In addition, predicted increases in summertime air temperatures at high southern latitudes would contribute to the rapid and steady scarp retreat that has been observed in the south polar residual ice for the past four Mars years. Our results suggest that documented albedo changes affect recent climate change and large-scale weather patterns on Mars, and thus albedo variations are a necessary component of future atmospheric and climate studies.     

中国北方森林潜在分布及其对气候变化响应的模拟

选取了温暖指数、寒冷指数、湿润指数、1月最低温度、7月最高温度和年降水量等气候变量为因子,使用地理信息系统和Logistic回归模型的结合,模拟中国北方森林的潜在分布区及其对气候变化的响应.用敏感性、指定度和总正确率评价预测的精度,4种北方森林的敏感性为81%～92%,指定度为82%～92%,总正确率82%～92%.结果表明:在未来气候条件(2071-2100)下,中国北方森林的分布区将发生大范围的转移;常绿针叶林的面积扩大15.2%,阔叶落叶林、落叶针叶林和针阔混交林的面积分别减小86.7%,71.7%,32.1%.     

长江口水文监测站网布局研究

本文在长江口区域潮位、流量、波浪、盐度、泥沙、水质和风速风向等水文要素逐项分析研究布设的基础上,按照突出重点、一站多项、要素综合、精简节约的基本思路,根据保障重点、统筹兼顾,新老整合、充实完善,点面并举、驻巡结合的基本原则,提出了以控制站和关键节点代表水文站为主体的长江口水文监测站网综合规划布局方案.     

基于气候生产力模型的安徽省气温与降水的变化分析

研究安徽省的气候生产力数据变化特征和该省的气候资源情况,以合理利用气候资源,充分保障农业生产的稳定性.以气温、降水量、高程特征数据为研究基础,综合使用Thornthwaite Memorial模型、克里金插值、双变量相关性分析等数据分析手段,在GIS平台中进行插值模拟与分析制图,以时空规律的内容揭示气候变化对农业气候生...     

Decadal changes of the wintertime tropical tropospheric temperature and their influences on the extratropical climate

Science Bulletin - A decadal change of the tropical tropospheric temperature (TT) was identified to occur in the winter of 1997. Compared with that in the former period (1979–1996), the...     

全球气候变化对中国北方地区沙漠化的影响

阐述了沙漠化有关概念,在全球气侯变化下沙漠化正逆演替进程与全球气候系统之间存在着双向耦合关系,二者相互制约.但这种关系具有不确定性,有待进一步研究.     

Biodiversity conservation: effects of changes in climate and land use

Thomas et al. argue, contrary to Sala et al. that climate change poses an equal or greater threat to global biodiversity than land-use change. We contest this claim, however, on the grounds that Thomas et al. incorrectly apply species-area relationships.     

统计降尺度对西北地区未来气候变化预估

利用IPCC数据分发中心提供的模式集成结果和多年的观测资料,建立大尺度气候状况(主要是降水与气温)与区域地理位置和海拔的统计降尺度关系,并用独立的观测资料检验这种关系,实现西北地区高分辨率气候空间分布;然后把这种关系应用于AOGCMs输出的大尺度气候信息,预估西北地区未来的气候变化情景.结果表明:与20世纪后半期相比,未来30年中国西北地区将普遍增温,增温幅度显著的地区在甘肃中东部、内蒙古、宁夏、陕西中北部、青海东北部和新疆的天山及阿尔泰山,增温幅度为0.5-1.0℃;降幅较大的地区在塔里木盆地,降幅为0.5-1.32℃;降水普遍增加,增加比较显著的地区有新疆的塔里木盆地南部、阿尔泰山和天山,陕西省南部,增加幅度为25-78 mm/年,降水减少的地区在高原区,青海省最为显著,减少幅度为81-108 mm/年.     

Hotspots of the sensitivity of the land surface hydrological cycle to climate change

Due to the shortage of the global observational data of the terrestrial hydrological variables,the understanding of how surface hydrological processes respond to climate change is still limited.In this study,the Community Land Model(CLM4.0)with high resolution atmospheric forcing data is selected to simulate the global surface hydrological quantities during the period 1948–2006and to investigate the spatial features of these quantities in response to climate change at the regional scales.The sensitivities of evaporation and runoff with respect to the dominant climate change factors(e.g.temperature and precipitation)derived from the concept of climate elasticity are introduced.Results show that evaporation has a declining trend with a rate of 0.7 mm per decade,while runoff shows a weak increasing trend of 0.15 mm per decade over the global land surface.Analyses of the hotspots in the hydrological cycle indicate that the spatial distributions for evaporation and runoff are similar over many areas in central Asia,Australia,and southern South America,but differ largely in high latitudes.It is also found that,the evaporation hotspots in arid regions are mainly associated with the changes in precipitation.Our sensitive analysis suggests that the hydrological quantities show a rather complicated spatial dependency of response of the water cycle to the different climate factors(temperature and precipitation).