The Clustering of Severe Dust Storm Occurrence in China From 1958 to 2007

Abstract

China is subjected to severe dust storms that deteriorate air quality and cause substantial damages to environment and socioeconomics. Although the annual frequency of severe dust storms in China has been declining since the 1950s, the variability of severe dust storm occurrence in time and space remains inadequately described under the changing climate. Based on the continuous observation at 368 meteorological observation sites across the mainland China over a 50-year period (1958 to 2007), we found that the temporal clustering of severe dust storm outbreak has intensified after 1985, which exacerbated the irregularity in the monthly distribution of severe dust storms. Moreover, the timing of the clustering has shown a higher interannual variation after 1985. Therefore, the variability of severe dust storm occurrence has increased significantly since the 1980s at the annual and monthly time scales. In addition, the relative probability of experiencing severe dust storms with a large influential range has risen since the 1980s. Spatially, severe dust storm outbreak has receded from spreading across the country in the 1950s to primarily affecting north and northwest China in the 2000s. These findings suggest a relatively higher risk of dust storm disaster in north and northwest China that is associated with the intensified clustering of severe dust storm activity in both time and space. Continuous studies are needed to identify the favorable synoptic system that stimulates the clustering of severe dust storm outbreak. We advocate more efforts to enhance severe dust storm prediction and warning dissemination in north and northwest China.GUO ET AL. 8035

Predominant Type of Dust Storms That Influences Air Quality Over Northern China and Future Projections

“…The two DS types exhibit significant differences in both long term trend and spatial pattern of the occurrences of DS. Although there is a consensus on the decreasing trend of DSs in northern China over the past decades (Guo et al, 2018;Qian et al, 2002;Zhu et al, 2008), our findings suggest that T1 DSs induced by Mongolian cyclone has no trend, and hence T2 DSs are primarily responsible for the declining trend of DSs in northern China. Such conclusion is supported by Zhu et al (2008), who applied the Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis to the spring DS frequency during 1954-2007 and found no significant trend for the second leading mode (similar to our T1 DS characterized by high DS frequency in the Inner Mongolia).…”

Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China

“…Connecting climate trends to natural disasters has become an essential issue of significant scientific and public interest [ 16 , 41 ]. Many previous studies have provided evidence that the increasing number of natural disasters is closely associated with rising temperatures [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

“…Therefore, Che et al [ 14 ] suggested that special attention should be paid to the relationship between earthquakes and the rising soil temperature in the warm permafrost regions on the Tibet Plateau, a primary active seismic zone in China. Taken together, climate-related natural disasters have severely impacted human livelihoods and natural environments around the world [ 15 , 16 ].…”

“…However, the current literature on the relationship between rising temperature and the incidence of natural disasters remains incomplete and sometimes conflicting. Although the long-term trends in the annual frequency of climate-related natural disasters have been successfully attributed to warming in numerous studies, e.g., [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], patterns in the response of climate-related natural disasters to climate change are inadequately explored [ 16 ]. Uncovering these various patterns is challenging.…”

Synoptic analysis and simulation of an unusual dust event over the Atacama Desert

“…Dust storms are reported and analyzed for many arid and semi‐arid regions on Earth, such as North Africa (e.g., Huneeus et al, ), Arabian Peninsula (e.g., Notaro et al, ), China (e.g., Guo et al, ), Central Asia (e.g., Indoitu et al, ), and Australia (e.g., Gabric et al, ). Severe dust events are usually triggered by large‐scale synoptic controls, as high wind speeds over wide areas are required for their development.…”