Modeling Study of the Effect of Anthropogenic Aerosols on Late Spring Drought in South China

PDF

  • In this study, the mechanisms underlying the decadal variability of late spring precipitation in South China are investigated by using the latest Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1). We aim to unravel the effects of different climate forcing agents such as aerosols and greenhouse gases (GHGs) on the decadal variation of precipitation, based on transient experiments from pre-industry (for year 1850) to present-day (for year 2000). Our results reveal that: (1) CESM1 can reproduce the climatological features of atmospheric circulation and precipitation for the late spring in South China; (2) only simulations including the forcing of anthropogenic aerosols can reproduce the observed decreasing trend of late spring precipitation from 1950-2000 in South China; (3) aerosols affect the decadal change of precipitation mainly by altering the large-scale atmospheric circulation, and to a less extent by increasing the lower-tropospheric stability to inhibit the convective precipitation; and (4) in comparison, other climate forcing agents such as GHGs have much smaller effects on the decadal change of spring precipitation in South China.
  • loading

Catalog

    /

    DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
    Return
    Return