Record-breaking low temperature levels and extreme snowstorms have impacted lots of parts of East Asia over the last few years. Numerous research studies have suggested that these extremes are related to the loss of Arctic sea ice through the promo of more blocking occasions and the subsequent intrusion of Arctic air into the mid-latitudes.
However, the sea-ice extent (SIE) shows considerable yearly variability and there is no clear understanding of the relationship in between the long-lasting sea-ice irregularity and severe cold events in Chinas history.
Fortunately, there are abundant proxy data, or paeloclimate proof, from sources such as ice cores, tree rings and historic files that can help to reconstruct the decadal-scale relationships in between the autumn SIE in the Barents-Kara Seas and the incident of extreme cold-wave occasions (ECWEs) in southern China.
The scientists selected historic periods from 1289 to 1911 and extracted info on extreme cold occasions in China from a book entitled “A Compendium of Chinese Meteorological Records of the Last 3000 years.” The book collates evidence from 48 ancient Chinese books, studies 8000 historic files and assesses more than 200,000 weather-related records.
They also compared the records picked for the research study with climate records of the historical Chinese dynasties and other pertinent references. On the other hand, modern-day reanalysis data were utilized to approximate the severe cold occasions from 1872 to 2017.
” We discovered that the event of winter season ECWEs in southern China and fall SIE in the Arctic Barents-Kara Seas had a significant antiphase relationship in many durations of sea-ice retreat from 1289 to 2017,” said Prof. Xiao.
The group likewise found that because the 1980s, the response of ECWEs to low SIE has reinforced throughout what has been a period of continual SIE decrease. In addition, the North Atlantic Oscillation and Siberian High played unsteady but obvious “bridging” roles in between the SIE and ECWEs on the decadal time scale.
” As we have actually seen this spring, weather condition occasions such as dust storms are more regular and temperature levels are relatively high. These phenomena might be associated with the anomalous Arctic sea ice degree,” said Dr. Zhiheng Du.
” We are also following these events carefully to even more rebuild the linkages between severe weather condition or climate occasions at low or mid-latitudes and elements of Arctic cryosphere in the future. We wish to offer a clear description of why similar occasions happened in history periods,” stated Dr. Jiao Yang.
Palaeoclimate information can assist in getting rid of known constraints in observations and model simulations. However, the extension of quantitative proxy-based records with enough precision and comparisons with climate designs are required in the future to supply more proof to comprehend the systems included and draw robust conclusions.
Recommendation: “A Statistical Linkage in between Extreme Cold Wave Events in Southern China and Sea Ice Extent in the Barents-Kara Seas from 1289 to 2017” by Cunde Xiao, Qi Zhang, Jiao Yang, Zhiheng Du, Minghu Ding, Tingfeng Dou and Binhe Luo, 14 April 2023, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.DOI: 10.1007/ s00376-023-2227-2.
Arctic sea ice degree on September 18, 2022. The line represents the 1981-2010 mean. A joint research team from Beijing Normal University and the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources has actually discovered a connection between severe cold occasions in southern China and Arctic autumn sea-ice degree. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using information from the National Snow and Ice Data Center
Scientists have linked severe cold events in southern China to Arctic fall sea-ice level using paleoclimate data from 1289-2017, finding a strengthening relationship since the 1980s.
A joint research study team led by Prof. Cunde Xiao from Beijing Normal University, Dr. Zhiheng Du, and Dr. Jiao Yand from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has exposed how severe cold occasions in southern China relate to Arctic fall sea-ice extent.
The study was published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences on April 14, 2023.
Arctic sea ice degree on September 18, 2022. The line represents the 1981-2010 median. A joint research team from Beijing Normal University and the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources has actually found a connection in between extreme cold events in southern China and Arctic fall sea-ice degree. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, utilizing data from the National Snow and Ice Data
