Strengthened Connections Between Arctic Sea Ice and Thermal Conditions Over the Tibetan Plateau in May After the 2000s

Abstract

The thermal conditions of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during spring are significantly related to climate changes on regional and hemispheric scales. The surface skin temperature over the TP in May exhibits an increasing trend over the northern and central‐western regions since the 2000s. This heterogeneous distribution has a strengthened relationship with changes in Arctic sea‐ice concentration (SIC) over the Barents‐Kara Seas after 2001, showing a significant negative correlation. Along with the dramatic SIC variations after 2001, there is a mid‐latitude wave train akin to the Circumglobal Teleconnection (CGT), accompanied by an anomalous anticyclone around the TP. On the one hand, the high‐latitude energy associated with the SIC changes spreads through the Barents‐Kara Seas toward the southeast, causing intensified westerly winds over the West Siberian Plain. The anomalies imply a poleward subtropical jet, which affects the anticyclonic anomaly over the TP, situated south of the jet axis, through dynamic processes. On the other hand, the cyclonic anomalies at high latitudes, linked with reduced SIC, inhibit snow melting and bring lower soil moisture content. Consequently, increased meridional temperature gradients and background baroclinicity cover the West Siberian Plain and regions encompassing the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, demonstrating the impacts of SIC variations on mid‐latitude Rossby waves. Responses to the anomalous anticyclone over the TP, heightened downward motions favor enhanced adiabatic heating and result in reduced cloud cover, further causing decreased snow depth. Influenced by snow‐albedo and cloud‐radiation feedback, the net downward short‐wave radiation increases and leads to the TP warming after 2001.

Modeling Climate Characteristics of Qinghai Lake Ice in 1979–2017 by a Quasi-Steady Model

“…The solar radiation showed a decreasing trend (−0.09 W•m −2 •a −1 ), but, due to its large fluctuation, it was insignificant. Previous studies have attributed the decrease in solar radiation on the Tibetan Plateau due to an increase in the water vapor content and thicker cloud layers [46,47]. Solar radiation is positively correlated with maximum ice thickness, with a correlation coefficient of 0.18, and average ice thickness with a correlation coefficient of 0.15, but both are insignificant.…”

“…The solar radiation showed a decreasing trend (−0.09 W•m −2 •a −1 ), but, due to its large fluctuation, it was insignificant. Previous studies have attributed the decrease in solar radiation on the Tibetan Plateau due to an increase in the water vapor content and thicker cloud layers [46,47]. Solar radiation is positively corre-…”

Potential Impacts of Winter Arctic Sea Ice on Subsequent Spring Thermal Condition Over the Tibetan Plateau

“…The mechanical effect is induced by the topography, which can modulate the downstream climate by generating Rossby wave trains in the westerlies (Wen et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2007). Thermal forcing consists of longwave radiation, shortwave radiation, latent heating, and surface sensible heating (SSH), among which the SSH is the most dominant spring diabatic heating source over the TP (Hu et al, 2023a(Hu et al, , 2023bWang et al, 2014;Yu et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2018).…”

“…Substantial studies signified that decreased autumn and winter Arctic sea ice can remarkably regulate climate variability over the Eurasian continent through decreasing meridional temperature gradient (Labe et al, 2020;Peings & Magnusdottir, 2013), stimulating meridional Rossby wave trains propagating from the polar region to Eurasia (Li & Wang, 2013;Li & Wu, 2012;Nakamura et al, 2015), regulating the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and associated Rossby wave trains (Chen et al, 2021), and modulating Arctic Oscillation (AO) induced by the stratospheric pathway (Chen & Wu, 2018;Yang et al, 2023). The linkage between the Arctic and the TP has been highly concerned by the international scientific community, because the glaciers, ice, and snow in these two regions are more abundant than anywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere (Chen, Duan, & Li, 2020;Duan et al, 2022;Gao et al, 2015;Hu et al, 2023aHu et al, , 2023bLi et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2023;Xu et al, 2019;You et al, 2021). The autumn-winter Arctic sea ice anomalies can significantly affect precipitation, surface temperature, and snow cover over the TP in winter on the interannual time scale (Chen, Duan, & Li, 2020;Ding et al, 2021;Duan et al, 2022;Wu et al, 2023;You et al, 2021).…”