Detection of the anthropogenic signal and urbanization effects in extreme temperature changes in eastern China

Abstract

With its rapid rise in temperatures and accelerated urbanization in recent decades, eastern China may be affected by both global warming and the urban heat island effect. To investigate the influence of anthropogenic forcing and urbanization on extreme temperature, the authors conducted detection and attribution analyses on 16 extreme indices using extended observational data during 1958–2020 and the models that participated in CMIP5 and CMIP6. The extended observational data till 2020 show continued warming in extreme temperatures in recent years. Most of the indices display an increase in warm extremes and decrease in cold extremes. Both CMIP5 and CMIP6 models are able to reflect these warming features, albeit the models can over- or underestimate some extreme indices. The two-signal detection with anthropogenic and urbanization effects jointly considered showed that the anthropogenic and urban signals can be simultaneously detected and separated only in two frequency indices, i.e., the frequency of warm and cold nights. The anthropogenic forcing explains about two-thirds of the warming, while URB contributes about one-third for these two indices. For most of the other indices, only the anthropogenic signal can be detected. This indicates that the urban signal is distinct from the natural variability mainly for the nighttime frequency indices but not for the other extreme temperature indies. Given the important influence of nighttime extremes on human health, this suggests an urgent need for cities to adapt to both global warming and urbanization.摘要作为中国经济最发达的地区, 中国东部受到城市热岛效应和温室气体排放等人类活动的明显影响. 本文利用最新的观测和全球气候模式资料, 对极端温度强度, 频率和持续时间等16个极端温度指数进行了检测归因分析, 研究了人为强迫和城市化效应对中国东部极端温度变化的影响. 结果表明, 近年来极端温度持续增暖, 极端暖事件增加, 极端冷事件减少. 新一代全球气候模式能够合理地反映这些变暖特征, 但是部分模式可能高估或低估了观测到的变化. 基于最优指纹方法的双信号检测表明, 人为信号和城市化效应只能在暖夜和冷夜两个频率指标上同时被检测并分离, 其变化约三分之二可归因于人类活动, 剩余的三分之一可归因于城市化效应. 而在极端温度其他指数的变化中, 只有人类活动的影响能够被检测到.