Annual precipitation in Liancheng, China, since 1777 AD derived from tree rings of Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.)

Abstract

Precipitation from the previous August to the current June over the last 232 years in Liancheng, China, was reconstructed by a transfer function based on the correlation between tree-ring widths and local meteorological data. The explained variance was 45.3 %, and fluctuations on both annual and decadal scales were captured. Wet periods with precipitation above the 232-year mean occurred from 1777 to 1785, 1802 to 1818, 1844 to 1861, 1889 to 1922 and 1939 to 1960. Dry periods (precipitation below the mean) occurred from 1786 to 1801, 1819 to 1843, 1862 to 1888 and 1923 to 1938. The reconstruction compares well with a tree-ring-based precipitation reconstruction at Mt. Xinglong; both of them showed the well-known severe drought in the late 1920s. The rainfall series also shows highly synchronous decreasing trends since the 1940s, suggesting that precipitation related to the East Asian summer monsoon at these two sites has decreased by large spatial and temporal (decadal) scales. Power spectrum analysis of the reconstruction showed remarkable 21.82-, 3.48-, 3.12-, 3.08- and 2.31-year cycles for the past 232 years; the 22-year cycle corresponds to the solar cycle and is expressed widely in tree ring/precipitation reconstructions on the China Loess Plateau. This may suggest a solar influence on the precipitation variations on the Loess Plateau, although the mechanisms are not well understood.

Anthropogenic Aerosols Cause Recent Pronounced Weakening of Asian Summer Monsoon Relative to Last Four Centuries

“…Shoulu, Mt. Shouyang, Zunisi, and Tulugou (two chronologies at the site) were previously published data (Liu, Lei, Sun, Song, & Li, , Liu, Lei, Sun, Song, & Sun, ; Song et al, ; Sun et al, ). Chronologies from Mt.…”

Divergence of tree-ring-based drought reconstruction between the individual sampling site and the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas: an example from Guancen Mountain

“…This devastating drought affected approximately 30 million people throughout Asia with disease and starvation [24]. The other severe drought of the 1920s was detected by almost all climate reconstructions in northern China [23,[25][26][27][28][29][30]. During the period of this drought, summer rainfall of north central China decreased to approximately half of the average amount, resulting in famine for about 4 million people due to low crop yields [23].…”

Tree‐ring‐based precipitation reconstruction in the source region of Weihe River, northwest China since AD 1810

“…The limiting climatic factor for Picea purpurea was the precipitation from previous August to current July. It was also evident that the precipitation during this season was a limiting factor of tree growth in other regions of China (Li et al, ; Liu et al, ; ; ; Zhang et al, ; ; Tian et al, ; Gao et al, ). According to differences in the climate responses of the STD and RES, the RES chronology had a stronger precipitation signal.…”