Characterizing Air Temperature Changes in the Tarim Basin over 1960–2012

Abstract

There has been evidence of warming rate varying largely over space and between seasons. However, little has been done to evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of air temperature in the Tarim Basin, northwest China. In this study, we collected daily air temperature from 19 meteorological stations for the period of 1960–2012, and analyzed annual mean temperature (AMT), the annual minimum (Tmin) and maximum temperature (Tmax), and mean temperatures of all twelve months and four seasons and their anomalies. Trend analyses, standard deviation of the detrended anomaly (SDDA) and correlations were carried out to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of various mean air temperatures. Our data showed that increasing trend was much greater in the Tmin (0.55°C/10a) than in the AMT (0.25°C/10a) and Tmax (0.12°C/10a), and the fluctuation followed the same order. There were large spatial variations in the increasing trends of both AMT (from −0.09 to 0.43 °C/10a) and Tmin (from 0.15 to 1.12°C/10a). Correlation analyses indicated that AMT had a significantly linear relationship with Tmin and the mean temperatures of four seasons. There were also pronounced changes in the monthly air temperature from November to March at decadal time scale. The seasonality (i.e., summer and winter difference) of air temperature was stronger during the period of 1960–1979 than over the recent three decades. Our preliminary analyses indicated that local environmental conditions (such as elevation) might be partly responsible for the spatial variability, and large scale climate phenomena might have influences on the temporal variability of air temperature in the Tarim Basin. In particular, there was a significant correlation between index of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and air temperature of May (P = 0.004), and between the index of Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and air temperature of July (P = 0.026) over the interannual to decadal time scales.

Glacier surges in the north-west West Kunlun Shan inferred from 1972 to 2017 Landsat imagery

“…The Mann-Kendall analysis presented in this study found a positive trend in temperatures between 1960 and 2016, and the linear regression analysis shows that this change is concentrated in the post-1986 period; and focused in the spring, summer and autumn months. These observations validate previous climatological studies that have found the southern Xinjiang climate to be shifting to a warmer state (Chen and others, 2006; Shi and others, 2007; Peng and others, 2014). Thus, the fact that climate changes are predominantly present in the form of warmer temperatures, rather than increased precipitation, support the hypotheses of Hewitt (2007), relating to long-term warming, over Copland and others (2011), relating to increases in mass balance.…”

The oasis effect and summer temperature rise in arid regions - case study in Tarim Basin

“…Temperature increases is one of the most important heat-related issues in climate change research 22 35 36 . Studies have shown that the temperature rise is an objective fact in the entire Tarim Basin 20 37 . The main causes of the temperature rise have generally been attributed to atmospheric circulations, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation 20 , the Siberian High 22 , the North Atlantic Oscillation or the Arctic Oscillation 23 24 .…”

“…Studies have shown that the temperature rise is an objective fact in the entire Tarim Basin 20 37 . The main causes of the temperature rise have generally been attributed to atmospheric circulations, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation 20 , the Siberian High 22 , the North Atlantic Oscillation or the Arctic Oscillation 23 24 . However, the impacts of the oasis effect on temperature have long been ignored.…”

“…Although the oasis effect is clear, the observed temperature still shows an increasing trend in arid regions 16 17 18 . Several studies suggest that, during the past 60 years, the temperature rise was 0.32–0.36 °C/decade and 0.1–0.3 °C/decade in the arid regions of Northwest China and in the Tarim Basin, respectively 19 20 . Global warming is mainly caused by the emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and various halogen-containing compounds 21 .…”

“…Global warming is mainly caused by the emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and various halogen-containing compounds 21 . On a regional scale, the temperature rise in the arid region of Northwest China, which includes the Tarim Basin, can generally be attributed to changes in atmospheric circulation, such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) 20 , the Siberian High 22 , the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or the Arctic Oscillation (AO) 23 24 .…”