Third Pole Environment (TPE)

Yao, Tandong; Thompson, Lonnie G.; Mosbrugger, Volker; Zhai, Fan; Ma, Yaoming; Luo, Tianxiang; Xu, Bin; Yang, Xiaoxin; Joswiak, Daniel R.; Wang, Weicai; Joswiak, Meri; Devkota, Laxmi Prasad; Tayal, Shresth; Jilani, Rahmatullah; Fayziev, Radjabovich

doi:10.1016/j.envdev.2012.04.002

Cited by 717 publications

(401 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…(Yao et al, 2012a). The TP exerts profound influences on atmospheric circulation and climate through mechanical and thermal effects because of its large area, unique topography, and geographical location (Yanai and Wu, 2006).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Snowpack changes are not only crucial for estimating impacts on water resources but also important to anticipate natural hazards related to snow avalanches/disasters (Beniston et al, 2017;Brown and Mote, 2009). Covered by a large volume of snow/ice in the mid-low latitudes, the TP is considered to be a sensitive and readily visible indicator of climate change (Yao et al, 2012a). Recently, the TP cryosphere has undergone rapid changes (Kang et al, 2010), including glacial shrinkage (Xu et al, 2009;Yao et al, 2012b), permafrost degradation (Cheng and Wu, 2007), and reduction in the annual duration of snow cover days (Ménégoz et al, 2014;Xu et al, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Snow cover on the TP plays an important role in the Asian summer monsoon, and serves as a crucial water source for several major Asian rivers (Bai and Feng, 1994;Lau et al, 2010;Vernekar et al, 1995;Yao et al, 2012a;Zhao and Moore, 2004). Atmospheric heating related to BC and dust deposition can lead to widespread enhanced warming over the TP and accelerate snowmelt in the western TP and Himalayas Ramanathan and Carmichael, 2008;Zhang et al, 2015b).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Snow cover plays a key role for sustaining ecology and society in mountainous regions. Light-absorbing particulates (including black carbon, organic carbon, and mineral dust) deposited on snow can reduce surface albedo and contribute to the near-worldwide melting of snow and ice. This study focused on understanding the role of black carbon and other water-insoluble light-absorbing particulates in the snow cover of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The results found that the black carbon, organic carbon, and dust concentrations in snow cover generally ranged from 202 to 17 468 ng g −1 , 491 to 13 880 ng g −1 , and 22 to 846 µg g −1 , respectively, with higher concentrations in the central to northern areas of the TP. Back trajectory analysis suggested that the northern TP was influenced mainly by air masses from Central Asia with some Eurasian influence, and air masses in the central and Himalayan region originated mainly from Central and South Asia. The relative biomassburning-sourced black carbon contributions decreased from ∼ 50 % in the southern TP to ∼ 30 % in the northern TP. The relative contribution of black carbon and dust to snow albedo reduction reached approximately 37 and 15 %, respectively. The effect of black carbon and dust reduced the snow cover duration by 3.1 ± 0.1 to 4.4 ± 0.2 days. Meanwhile, the black carbon and dust had important implications for snowmelt water loss over the TP. The findings indicate that the impacts of black carbon and mineral dust need to be properly accounted for in future regional climate projections, particularly in the high-altitude cryosphere.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2018

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“…The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is known as Bthe Third Pole^of our planet because of its harsh environment and high elevation (Zheng 1996;Qiu 2008;Yao et al 2012). Natural alpine grassland dominates this plateau and covers approximately 1.525×10 6 km 2 (Zhang et alidentified as the two primary anthropogenic forces that have driven grassland degradation since the 1980s in this region (Harris 2010;Yu et al 2012;Li et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and climatic patterns of the relative abundance of poisonous vs. non-poisonous plants across the Northern Tibetan Plateau

Yang

Zhang

et al. 2015

Environ Monit Assess

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It is the most serious challenge to promote degraded grassland recovery currently facing the developing Tibetan Autonomous Region. We conducted field surveys of 75 grazing sites between 2009 and 2012 across the Northern Tibetan Plateau and described the spatial and climatic patterns of the occurrence of poisonous plants. Our results showed lower ratios of species richness (SprRatio), coverage (CovRatio), and biomass (BioRatio) of non-poisonous vs. poisonous plants in the semi-arid alpine steppe zone, where the growing season precipitation (GSP) is between 250 and 350 mm; however, this result is in contrast to the relatively wetter meadow (GSP >350 mm) and much drier desert-steppe (GSP <250 mm) communities. Results from generalized additive models (GAMs) further confirmed that precipitation is primarily responsible for the initially decreasing and then increasing tendency of compositional ratios of non-poisonous to poisonous species. The wide confidence bands at GSP <250 mm indicated that precipitation is not an effective indicator for predicting compositional changes in desert-steppe communities. When mean annual livestock grazing pressure was incorporated into the optimal GAMs, the model performance improved: the Akaike information criterion (AIC) decreased by 1.20 for SprRatio and 3.09 for BioRatio, and the deviance explained (R 2 ) increased by 6.0 % for SprRatio and 3.6 % for BioRatio. Therefore, more detailed information on grazing disturbance (timing, frequency, and density) should be collected to disentangle the relative contribution of climate change and grazing activities to changes in community assembly and ecological functions of alpine grasslands on the Northern Tibetan Plateau.

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“…Population is sparse and industrial activity minimal across most of the plateau, and local inhabitants mainly make a living by herding sheep and yaks, making it one of the most remote and pristine regions in the world. However, concerns have been raised in recent years over cryospheric changes caused by global warming Bolch et al, 2012;Yao et al, 2012) and chemical contamination from the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants Lüthi et al, 2015), both of which threaten this unique and fragile alpine ecosystem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric Aerosol Elements over the Inland Tibetan Plateau: Concentration, Seasonality, and Transport

Ghimire

2015

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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Between November 2005 and November 2007, weekly total suspended particle samples were collected at the Nam Co station in the inland Tibetan Plateau (TP). Through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, twenty-nine elements were analyzed and their sources and fluxes were investigated. Mean elemental concentrations were lower than those at the edge of the TP. Some elements, such as Cr, Ni, Cd, and Pb, exhibited high enrichment factors (Cr: 22; Ni: 17; Cd: 23; and Pb: 9), indicating possible anthropogenic influence in this remote region, particularly during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. In addition, an empirical orthogonal function analysis revealed the dominance of crustal-origin elements, rather than anthropogenic elements, in the aerosol. Furthermore, backward air mass trajectories demonstrated that the Nam Co region was mainly influenced by air masses from Central and South Asia. Accordingly, because of dust storms from Central Asia and within the TP, crustal element concentrations, such as of Al, were higher during winter and pre-monsoon seasons than during the monsoon season. By contrast, anthropogenic elements, such as Cr and Cd, were relatively higher during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons because of pollutants transported from South Asia, where atmospheric brown clouds are concentrated and biomass combustion is prevalent. Dry deposition of aerosols dominated in the Nam Co region, particularly during the non-monsoon period, which is useful to interpret the elemental records in the TP ice cores and lake sediments.

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Third Pole Environment (TPE)

Cited by 717 publications

References 60 publications

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

Spatial and climatic patterns of the relative abundance of poisonous vs. non-poisonous plants across the Northern Tibetan Plateau

Atmospheric Aerosol Elements over the Inland Tibetan Plateau: Concentration, Seasonality, and Transport

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