Consistence and Inconsistence of Variations in Surface Air Temperatures between Eastern and Western China during 1951~2002

Abstract

Based on monthly averaged surface air temperature data of 733 stations in China during 1951~2002, after rejecting 86 stations in the large cities, the consistency and difference of the trends in surface air temperatures over eastern, western China and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were analyzed and their causes were discussed. The results show that there are close connections and consistency in variations of annual and seasonal mean surface air temperatures in eastern and western China. Warming trends are all significant in eastern and western China with a rate of 0.26°C/10a in eastern China and 0.18°C/10a in western China respectively. Seasonally, mean temperatures also tended warming up but the warmest trends were found in winter in both eastern and western China. The annual mean warming trend in eastern China is more obvious than that in western China. In winter and spring, warming trends in eastern China are greater than those in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and western China, while in summer and autumn, they are smaller in eastern China. The consistency of warming trend in eastern and western China suggests that surface air temperature in eastern and western China are both influenced under global warming background. Whereas, the fact that warming trend in eastern China is more obvious than that in western China implies that topography also plays an important role in regional temperature variation.