This paper reviews recent advances regarding land–atmosphere–ocean coupling associated with the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its climatic impacts. Thermal forcing over the TP interacts strongly with that over the Iranian Plateau, forming a coupled heating system that elevates the tropopause, generates a monsoonal meridional circulation over South Asia and creates conditions of large-scale ascent favorable for Asian summer monsoon development. TP heating leads to intensification and westward extension (northward movement) of the South Asian High (Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone), and exerts strong impacts on upstream climate variations from North Atlantic to West Asia. It also affects oceanic circulation and buoyancy fields via atmospheric stationary wave trains and air–sea interaction processes, contributing to formation of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The TP thermal state and atmospheric–oceanic conditions are highly interactive and Asian summer monsoon variability is controlled synergistically by internal TP variability and external forcing factors.

westerlies due to the weakening of the southeastern portion of the Atlantic subtropical high. These effects of the TP heating explain a remarkable portion of the effects by the Asian continent heating. In addition, the impacts of different magnitudes of TP surface heating are also discussed.

Previous studies have demonstrated that atmospheric diabatic heating over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) exerts significant influences on the "upstream" climate of the Atlantic-African-European sector in boreal summer. Using the NCAR Community Earth System Model, this study demonstrates that the TP-induced change in North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) including evident warming over the mid-latitude North Atlantic and cooling over the south can in turn modulate the above TP impact. Compared with the TP heating experiment without Atlantic SST variation, anomalous wave train pattern appears with north-northeastward downstream influences when the change in Atlantic SST is considered. The wave train pattern is characterized by three positive centers over the North Atlantic, the Arctic Ocean, and east of Japan, and four negative centers over northeastern North America, North Europe, the mid-Atlantic, and the northwestern Pacific. It intensifies the northern portions of the TP-induced tropospheric anticyclones over the extratropical North Atlantic and the cyclones over northeastern North America and North Europe. Correspondingly, precipitation decreases over the northwestern Atlantic but increases over northeastern North America and North Europe. Due to the easterly anomalies on the southern side of the weakened thermal low over subtropical Africa, precipitation over the Sahel decreases, indicating a weakening of TP-induced precipitation dipole over the tropical eastern Atlantic and West Africa when the Atlantic SST influence is considered. Overall, the modulation of Atlantic SST variation accounts for above 20 percent of the upstream climate signals induced by the TP thermal effect.

The thermal effect of entire Tibetan Plateau (TP) tends to strengthen the South Asian summer monsoon (SASM); however, how does this monsoon component respond to the thermal conditions of different TP domains? How do the thermal condition of entire TP influences other monsoons including the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and the Southeast Asian summer monsoon (SEASM)? These questions are addressed by conducting an experiment with the CESM, which is forced by reducing the surface albedo over the plateau by half, from a TP-averaged 0.20 to 0.10, from May to September, and similar experiments for different TP domains. Both observation and model results show that the entire-TP heating intensifies the large-scale Asian monsoon, the SASM, and the EASM, but surprisingly weakens the SEASM. It is also surprising that the TP heating exerts a stronger effect on the EASM than on the SASM. The southern TP (south of 35°N) does not show the strongest impact on the SASM compared to other TP domains and it exerts a weakest impact on the EASM, which is most strongly influenced by the thermal effect of eastern (east of 90°E) and northern TP. The western TP weakens the SEASM as the other domains, while it strengthens other monsoon components. The thermal condition of southern and eastern TP are accompanied by signals of tropical atmospheric response at relatively broader spatial scales, while that of northern TP more apparently leads to a significant wave train extending eastward from the TP to western Eurasia over the higher latitudes.

The mid-Pacific trough (MPT), occurring in the upper troposphere during boreal summer, acts as an atmospheric bridge connecting the climate variations over Asia, the Pacific, and North America. The first (second) mode of empirical orthogonal function analysis of the MPT, which accounts for 20.3% (13.4%) of the total variance, reflects a change in its intensity on the southwestern (northeastern) portion of the trough. Both modes are significantly correlated with the variability of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST). Moreover, the first mode is affected by Atlantic SST via planetary waves that originate from the North Atlantic and propagate eastward across the Eurasian continent, and the second mode is influenced by the Arctic sea ice near the Bering Strait by triggering an equatorward wave train over the northeast Pacific. A stronger MPT shown in the first mode is significantly linked to drier and warmer conditions in the Yangtze River basin, southern Japan, and the northern United States and wetter conditions in South Asia and northern China, while a stronger MPT shown in the second mode is associated with a drier and warmer southwestern United States. In addition, an intensified MPT (no matter whether in the southwestern or the northeastern portion) corresponds to more tropical cyclones (TCs) over the western North Pacific (WNP) and fewer TCs over the eastern Pacific (EP) in summer, which is associated with the MPT-induced ascending and descending motions over the WNP and the EP, respectively.

The climatological intraseasonal oscillations (CISOs) of the subtropical Asian summer rain band (SASRB) are found significantly related with the CISO in the atmospheric circulation over extratropical Eurasian continent, which is dominated by an intraseasonal North Pacific oscillation (ISNAO) pattern and its associated wave trains. The anomalous trough (ridge) of the eastward propagating wave train of the ISNAO pattern affects active (break) rainfall of SASRB and modulates the CISO of SASRB, together with the anomalous active (suppressed) convection northward propagating from the tropics and the subtropics. Moreover, the anomalous trough (ridge) around the Lake Baikal bridges the CISO in the mid‐high latitudes and that of SASRB. The NCEP Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) depicts the spatial–temporal features, principal modes, and propagation of the CISO of SASRB reasonably well. However, the mean state of precipitation and the variance of CISO are overestimated. In the model, the ISNAO pattern is too weak and its fluctuating frequency is too high. Moreover, the CFSv2 only shows marginal skills in simulating the ISNAO pattern and the propagation of its associated wave trains, and underestimates the relationship between the atmospheric circulation in the mid‐high latitudes and the CISO of SASRB. In addition, overestimation of the intensity of CISO in the tropical–subtropical and higher‐latitude atmosphere may cause overestimation of the CISO of SASRB.

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) exerts significant influences on the earth’s climate, and it is commonly accepted that the plateau enhances the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM). However, since the TP is located in the subtropics and its climate responses consist of both tropical and extratropical characteristics, a naturally-asked question is: how would the TP affect the ASM if it is shifted to different latitudes? A series of experiments with a state-of-the-art earth system model demonstrate that the current location of the TP is not optimal for intensifying the ASM. When the TP is moved southward, the tropical South Asian monsoon (SAM) intensifies, associated with strengthened thermally-driven atmospheric circulation, while the subtropical East Asian monsoon (EAM) weakens. When the TP is located in the higher-than-current latitudes, on the other hand, the SAM weakens and the EAM intensifies. In particular, when the TP shifts northward by 8° of latitudes, the Asian continent witnesses the heaviest summer monsoon rainfall. Changes in the meridional location of the plateau cause substantial differences in atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport, and thus in monsoon rainfall.

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Tibetan Plateau snow cover are important factors in interannual climate variability. The relationship between ENSO and the Tibetan Plateau snow variation is still an issue unresolved. While some studies suggested that ENSO is a key factor of changes in snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau, other studies noted independence between the two. The present study revealed a prominent interdecadal change in the relationship between ENSO and the spring Tibetan Plateau snow cover variation in the early 2000s. There is a significant positive correlation between ENSO and the spring Tibetan Plateau snow cover variation in the period 1988-2003, but an obvious negative relationship is detected in the period 2004-2019. The interdecadal change in the ENSO-snow relationship is related to the distinct pathway of ENSO influence on the spring Tibetan Plateau snow cover variation during the two periods. In the period 1988-2003, ENSO induces anomalous convection over the tropical western North Pacific that in turn cause atmospheric circulation and moisture anomalies over the Tibetan Plateau. The resultant winter snow anomalies over the central-eastern Tibetan Plateau persist to the following spring. In the period 2004-2019, ENSO induces North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in winter that are maintained to the following spring. The North Atlantic SST anomalies then stimulate the atmospheric circulation anomalies extending to the Tibetan Plateau that induce snow cover anomalies there in spring. The different processes of ENSO influence lead to opposite anomalies of spring snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau in the two periods.