Global Climate Impacts of Land‐Surface and Atmospheric Processes Over the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) impacts local and remote atmospheric circulations, wherein it mechanically and thermally affects air masses or airflows. Moreover, the TP provides a key channel for substance transport between the troposphere and the stratosphere. This study reviews recent advances in research regarding land–atmosphere coupling processes over the TP. The TP experiences climate warming and wetting. Climate warming has caused glacier retreat, permafrost degradation, and a general increase in vegetation density, while climate wetting has led to a significant increase in the number of major lakes, primarily through increased precipitation. Local and regional climates are affected by interactions between the land and the atmosphere. Namely, the TP drives surface pollutants to the upper troposphere in an Asian summer monsoon (ASM) anticyclone circulation, before spreading to the lower stratosphere. Further, the thermal forcing of the TP plays an essential role in the ASM. TP forcing can modulate hemispheric‐scale atmospheric circulations across all seasons. The TP interacts with remote oceans through a forced atmospheric response and is substantially affected by the evolution of the Earth’s climate via promoting Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and eliminating Pacific meridional overturning circulation. The extensive influence of the TP is facilitated by its coupling with the ASM in the summer; whereas its winter influence on climate mainly occurs through Rossby waves. The observed increasing trends of temperature and precipitation over the TP are projected to continue throughout the 21st century.

Maxent modeling for predicting suitable habitats for wild ungulates: a case study of typical canyons in the Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve of China

“…The mean diurnal temperature range, spanning 12.5°C to 15.5°C, suggests that these ungulates inhabit areas with signi cant daily temperature uctuations. This is attributed to the high altitude and low air density of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, affecting thermal atmospheric conditions, resulting in rapid temperature changes from day to night 20 . During the daytime, the atmosphere exerts a weakening effect on solar radiation.…”

Warming Climate‐Induced Changes in Cloud Vertical Distribution Possibly Exacerbate Intra‐Atmospheric Heating Over the Tibetan Plateau

“…As “Asia water tower,” the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has been experiencing marked and accelerated warming over the past few decades (Huang et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2008), resulting in snow and glacier melt and ensuing solid water storage crisis (Yao et al., 2019). Changes in cloud properties have been shown to be responsible for such rapid warming; however, most previous studies have concentrated only on the influence of the total or low cloud fraction (CF), or their long‐term effects on the TP's climate (Duan & Wu, 2006; Hua et al., 2018; Ma et al., 2021; Yang & Ren, 2017).…”

Strong Aerosol Absorption and Its Radiative Effects in Lhasa on the Tibetan Plateau

“…Over the past 50 years, there has been a growing concern that the warming rate over TP is twice more than the global average value (Kang et al., 2016; Mu et al., 2020; You et al., 2021). TP warming impacts not only local ecosystem but also regional or global atmospheric and climate changes (Huang et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2008). Moreover, there are large spatial heterogeneities in the air temperature increase in TP (Mu et al., 2020), adding complexity to figure out the driving mechanisms.…”