Comparison of temperature change between the westerly and monsoon influencing region in China from 1961 to 2006

Abstract

Surface air temperature is one of the main factors that can be used to denote climate change. Its variation in the westerly and monsoon-influenced part of China (i.e., North-West and East China) were analyzed by using monthly data during 1961–2006 from 139 and 375 meteorological stations over these two regions, respectively. The method of trend coefficient and variability was utilized to study the consistency and discrepancy of temperature change over North-West and East China. The results suggest that whether for the annual or the seasonal mean variations of temperature, there were consistent striking warming trends based on the background of global warming over North-West and East China. The most obvious warming trends all appeared in winter over the two regions. Except for the period in spring, the annual and seasonal mean warming trends in North-West China are more obvious than those in East China. The annual mean temperature warming rates are 0.34°C per decade and 0.22°C per decade over North-West and East China, respectively. The average seasonal increasing rates in spring, summer, autumn, and winter are 0.22°C per decade, 0.24°C per decade, 0.35°C per decade, and 0.55°C per decade in North-West China, respectively. At the same time, they are 0.25°C per decade, 0.11°C per decade, 0.22°C per decade, and 0.39°C per decade in East China, respectively. The temperature discrepancies of two adjacent decades are positive over the westerlies and monsoonal region, and they are bigger in the westerlies region than those in the monsoonal region. The most significant warming rate is from the North-East Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China to West Qinghai Province of China in all seasons and annually over the westerlies region. The North and North-East China are the main prominent warming areas over the monsoonal region. The warming rate increases with latitude in the monsoonal region, but this is not the case in the westerlies region.