Consecutive extreme flooding and heat wave in Japan: Are they becoming a norm?

Simon S.‐Y Wang,Hyungjun Kim,Lin Zhao,Dim Coumou,Jin‐Ho Yoon,Robert R Gillies

doi:10.1002/asl.933

Abstract

Consecutive extreme flooding and heat wave in Japan: Are they becoming a norm?

Highlights

The timing of the July 2018 heavy rainfall and heat wave events coincided with the distinct lifecycle of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) featuring the active, break, and revival phases (Chen et al, 2004; Ding, 2007)
Interannual variations of these circulation features have been linked to sea surface temperature (SST) variability nearby and afar (Sampe and Xie, 2010; Imada et al, 2013)
A wealth of literature has indicated that an enhanced EASM and its circulation components (Figure 1b) are the likely outcome

Summary

Introduction

The timing of the July 2018 heavy rainfall and heat wave events coincided with the distinct lifecycle of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) featuring the active, break, and revival phases (Chen et al, 2004; Ding, 2007). The less palpable factors in this EASM paradigm of increased compound extremes concern the effects of the changing South Asia low (C in Figure 1b) and mid-latitude westerly jet (D in Figure 1b) on the Baiu rainband. Recent study (He et al, 2019) notes the effect of increased latent heating over the Tibetan Plateau on the intensification of the EASM circulations, which could influence the Baiu rainband.

Results

Conclusion