General characteristics of climate change over China and associated dynamic mechanisms during the Last Interglacial based on PMIP4 simulations

Abstract

Investigation of climate change during the Last Interglacial (LIG, ~130–115 ka BP) may deepen our understanding of the response of climate to Earth's orbit. Here we examine climate change over China and associated mechanisms during the LIG using the lig127k experiments from the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project Phase 4. We illustrate that annual mean surface air temperature over China decreases by 0.22 °C during the LIG relative to the preindustrial, with a colder climate in winter and spring, whereas a warmer climate in summer and autumn. Annual mean precipitation increases (up to 54%) over northern and southwestern China during the LIG, whereas it decreases (up to 11%) over the other parts. This pattern largely holds for precipitation change in summer during the LIG, but precipitation generally decreases in winter. According to the moisture budget equation, the nonlinear and horizontal dynamic terms contribute largely to the drier (wetter) conditions in summer over the south (north) of eastern China, whereas the horizontal dynamic term and the horizontal thermodynamic term is more important in regulating drier conditions over south and north of eastern China in winter, respectively. Furthermore, East Asian summer monsoon is intensified during the LIG manifested by anomalous southerly at 850 hPa, a westward shift of western North Pacific subtropical high, and poleward migration of East Asian westerly jet. East Asian winter monsoon also gets stronger during the LIG, with anomalous northerly at low-level troposphere, enhanced mid-tropospheric East Asian trough, and an equatorward shift of westerly jet at upper troposphere. Additionally, we note obvious data-model discrepancies in annual temperature change over China during the LIG, with cooling seen in the models but warming suggested by multiproxies. This highlights close collaboration between model and data communities in future to deepen our understanding of climate change during the LIG.