Studies from recent years involving development and application of statistical downscaling models for Scandinavia (mainly Norway and Sweden) are reviewed. In most of the studies linear techniques were applied. Local temperature and/or precipitation were predictands in a majority of the studies. Large-scale temperature fields, either from 2 m or 850 hPa, were found to be the best predictors for local temperature, while a combination of atmospheric circulation indices and tropospheric humidity information were the best predictors for local precipitation. Statistically downscaled temperature scenarios for Scandinavia differ depending on climate model, emission scenario and downscaling strategy. There are nevertheless several common features in the temperature scenarios. The warming rates during the 21st century are projected to increase with distance from the coast and with latitude. In most of Scandinavia higher warming rates are projected in winter than in summer. For precipitation, the spread between different scenarios is larger than for temperature. A substantial part of the projected precipitation change is connected to projected changes in atmospheric circulation, which differ considerably from one model integration to another. A tendency for increased large-scale humidity over Scandinavia still implies that projections for the 21st century typically indicate increased annual precipitation. This tendency is most significant during winter. In northern Scandinavia the projections tend to show increased precipitation also during summer, but several scenarios show reduced summer precipitation in parts of southern Scandinavia. Comparisons with results from global and regional climate models indicate that both regional modeling and statistical downscaling add value to the results from the global models.

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Using high-quality precipitation data from 524 stations, the trends of a set of precipitation variables during the main rain season (May-September) from 1961 to 2008 for different climate regions in China were analysed. However, different characteristics were displayed in different regions of China. In most temperate monsoon regions (north-eastern China), total rain-season precipitation and precipitation days showed decreasing trends; positive tendencies in precipitation intensity were, however, noted for most stations in this region. It is suggested that the decrease in rain-season precipitation is mainly related to there being fewer rain days and a change towards drier conditions in north-eastern China, and as a result, the available water resources have been negatively affected in the temperate monsoon regions. In most subtropical and tropical monsoon climate regions (south-eastern China), the rain-season precipitation and precipitation days (11-50, with >50 mm) showed slightly positive trends. However, precipitation days with 10 mm decreased in these regions. Changes towards wetter conditions in this area, together with more frequent heavy rainfall events causing floods, have a severe impact on peoples' lives and socio-economic development. In general, the rain-season precipitation, precipitation days and rain-season precipitation intensity had all increased in the temperate continental and plateau/mountain regions of western China. This increase in rain-season precipitation has been favourable to pasture growth.

This study aims at increasing our understanding of the regional wind climate in Sweden. Spatial and temporal patterns of the surface winds are presented for the years 1999-2000. Annual mean wind speeds range between 2 and 5 m/s with high values at exposed mountainous sites and on islands off the coast. Combining wind speed and direction into mean wind velocities shows that flow conditions are stronger and more coherent in space in southern Sweden than in central and northern Sweden. The spatial scale, defined as the distance between stations when the correlation for wind speed drops to ∼0.37, was determined by pairwise correlations between all possible station pairs. Scales range from 38 to 530 km for wind speed and from 40 to 830 km for wind direction depending on the region. They tend to be smaller in central and northern Sweden, where the more pronounced relief has a larger influence on the local wind conditions. The strength and the timing of the annual and diurnal wind speed cycle have been estimated for each station. Amplitudes of the annual cycle are greater at exposed sites and correlate generally well with annual mean wind speeds. Monthly mean wind speeds peak in winter in southern Sweden, but peak in other seasons in the remaining regions. In winter, weaker pressure gradients over northern Sweden and surface-near temperature inversions contribute to weaker surface winds. Diurnal cycles vary in strength between summer and winter. Compared to the last normal climate period , 1999-2000 is characterized by the increased occurrence of westerly and southerly geostrophic flow.

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