Moisture changes over the last millennium in arid central Asia: a review, synthesis and comparison with monsoon region

Chen, Fahu; Chen, Jianhui; Holmes, Jonathan A.; Boomer, Ian; Austin, Phil; Gates, John B.; Wang, Ning-Lian; Brooks, Stephen J.; Zhang, Jiawu

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.01.005

Cited by 414 publications

(268 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Conversely, eastern monsoonal stalagmite records [42] show the opposite situations (e.g. increased rainfall in the MWP and decreased rainfall in the LIA) [43]. For the last century, especially during the last 50 years, the westerly regions have become increasingly humid, while the monsoonal regions (including northern China and the eastern part of northwestern China) have become drier [44].…”

Section: Arid Region Lakes In Northwestern Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal variations of Chinese lakes and their driving mechanisms since the Last Glacial Maximum: A review and synthesis of lacustrine sediment archives

Shen

2012

Chin. Sci. Bull.

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In this article, the author provides the first synthesis and classification of available environment-indicating proxies for lacustrine sediment. A review of spatio-temporal variations in lakes from the Tibetan Plateau, the dry areas of Northwestern China, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the plains of Eastern China since the LGM is then provided. The driving mechanism for variations in lake processes and characteristics is also discussed based on various temporal scales. The author then proposes that future investigations be conducted to: (1) strengthen the study of theoretics and interpretation of environment-indicating proxies, (2) enhance the study of high-resolution time series and spatial variability of lake environment evolution, (3) provide more attention on the influence of human activities on lake environments, and (4) boost construction of the Quaternary lake database of China. Lakes are normally formed under various geological and geographical backgrounds. As a component of the terrestrial hydrosphere, lakes have close relationships with the atmosphere, biosphere and lithosphere, and serve as the connection between these systems. Once a lake is formed, it is influenced by a series of tectonic, climatic and anthropogenic factors. As a result, lacustrine evolutional processes usually involve geological, physical, chemical and biological processes and the interactions between them, and these processes are all documented by lacustrine sediment archives. Because lakes are widely distributed worldwide and normally undergo a long history of evolution, lacustrine sediment generally possesses a continuous record with highresolutions that provides abundant information regarding regional environmental and climatic variations that can be used in global change studies. Lacustrine sediment also contains information pertaining to human activities, since people tend to settle around lakes owing to the resources they provide. Synthesis and classification of proxies in lacustrine sediment describing environmental conditionsLakes generally have an independent watershed that serves as a source of water, sediment, biomass and chemicals, while the lake serves as a sink for all of these materials. Accordingly, lacustrine sediment can record all information regarding the source-sink interactions and mass balances including water balances (watershed rainfall and lake level stands), sediment balances (watershed erosion intensity and lake sedimentation rate), biological balances (watershed vegetation and lake biomass) and chemical balances (watershed soluble materials and lake water ion concentrations) [1].

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Section: Arid Region Lakes In Northwestern Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal variations of Chinese lakes and their driving mechanisms since the Last Glacial Maximum: A review and synthesis of lacustrine sediment archives

Shen

2012

Chin. Sci. Bull.

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“…The different sizes of the three lake volumes (Lake Sugan smallest whereas Lake Qinghai biggest) and their association of temperature with hydrological changes could potentially explain the observed discrepancies. During the warm MWP, lake levels in Lake Sugan and Gahai would have decreased due to associated dry conditions [22] and thus the warming signal would be further enhanced, while prevailing wet conditions in Lake Qinghai would have diminished the warming signal. Thus, the estimated warmth between the MWP relative to the recent level could be bracketed by the ~1.9°C from Lake Gahai and ~0.5°C from Lake Qinghai, probably closer to the lower end as the Lake Qinghai size is substantially larger and thus the lake volume effect should be smaller.…”

Section: The Medieval Warm Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The northern Tibetan Plateau is a climatologically important region as it involves complex interactions between the mid-latitude westerly and subtropical Asia monsoon circulations [22], which may provide a bridge connecting the high and low latitude climatic processes [23]. The temperature records in China have high level-of-confidence for the past 500 years [24][25][26].…”

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confidence: 99%

Solar influenced late Holocene temperature changes on the northern Tibetan Plateau

Liu

Zhao

et al. 2013

Chin. Sci. Bull.

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Considerable efforts have been made to extend temperature records beyond the instrumental period through proxy reconstructions, in order to further understand the mechanisms of past climate variability. Yet, the global coverage of existing temperature records is still limited, especially for some key regions like the Tibetan Plateau and for earlier times including the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). Here we present decadally-resolved, alkenone-based, temperature records from two lakes on the northern Tibetan Plateau. Characterized by marked temperature variability, our records provide evidence that temperatures during the MWP were slightly higher than the modern period in this region. Further, our temperature reconstructions, within age uncertainty, can be well correlated with solar irradiance changes, suggesting a possible link between solar forcing and natural climate variability, at least on the northern Tibetan Plateau.

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“…In this region, the scarcity of water, the fragile ecological environment, and the influences of human activities make the ASAC extremely sensitive to abnormal changes in water and heat, such as global warming (Narisma et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2010;Dai, 2011). Based on temperature data for the years 1961-1997, Li and Qian (2005 indicated that temperatures in the ASAC kept increasing, especially winter temperatures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of climate change on net primary productivity in arid and semiarid regions of China

Wang

et al. 2015

Chin. Geogr. Sci.

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Abstract:In recent years, with the constant change in the global climate, the effect of climate factors on net primary productivity (NPP) has become a hot research topic. However, two opposing views have been presented in this research area: global NPP increases with global warming, and global NPP decreases with global warming. The main reasons for these two opposite results are the tremendous differences among seasonal and annual climate variables, and the growth of plants in accordance with these climate variables. Therefore, it will fail to fully clarify the relation between vegetation growth and climate changes by research that relies solely on annual data. With seasonal climate variables, we may clarify the relation between vegetation growth and climate changes more accurately. Our research examined the arid and semiarid areas in China (ASAC), which account for one quarter of the total area of China. The ecological environment of these areas is fragile and easily affected by human activities. We analyzed the influence of climate changes, especially the changes in seasonal climate variables, on NPP, with Climatic Research Unit (CRU) climatic data and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite remote data, for the years 2000-2010. The results indicate that: for annual climatic data, the percentage of the ASAC in which NPP is positively correlated with temperature is 66.11%, and 91.47% of the ASAC demonstrates a positive correlation between NPP and precipitation. Precipitation is more positively correlated with NPP than temperature in the ASAC. For seasonal climatic data, the correlation between NPP and spring temperature shows significant regional differences. Positive correlation areas are concentrated in the eastern portion of the ASAC, while the western section of the ASAC generally shows a negative correlation. However, in summer, most areas in the ASAC show a negative correlation between NPP and temperature. In autumn, precipitation is less important in the west, as opposed to the east, in which it is critically important. Temperatures in winter are a limiting factor for NPP throughout the region. The findings of this research not only underline the importance of seasonal climate variables for vegetation growth, but also suggest that the effects of seasonal climate variables on NPP should be explored further in related research in the future. Keywords: climate change; net primary productivity (NPP); annual/seasonal variability; trend analysis; arid/semiarid regions of China (ASAC) Citation: Wang Hao, Liu Guohua, Li Zongshan, Ye Xin, Wang Meng, Gong Li, 2016. Impacts of climate change on net primary productivity in arid and semiarid regions of China.

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Moisture changes over the last millennium in arid central Asia: a review, synthesis and comparison with monsoon region

Cited by 414 publications

References 97 publications

Spatiotemporal variations of Chinese lakes and their driving mechanisms since the Last Glacial Maximum: A review and synthesis of lacustrine sediment archives

Spatiotemporal variations of Chinese lakes and their driving mechanisms since the Last Glacial Maximum: A review and synthesis of lacustrine sediment archives

Solar influenced late Holocene temperature changes on the northern Tibetan Plateau

Impacts of climate change on net primary productivity in arid and semiarid regions of China

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