Recent Tianshan warming in relation to large-scale climate teleconnections

Abstract

On the alpine areas such as Tianshan Mountains, snow and glaciers are widely distributed, which are sensitive to temperature changes. However, due to high altitude and scarcity of observed stations, the temperature changes and their causes in Tianshan are unclear. To address this issue, this study integrated Thiel-Sen trend test, Pearson correlation, and wavelet analysis methods to analyze the driving factors of temperature changes in Tianshan. We draw the following conclusions: (1) In the past 40 years, Tianshan warmed at a rate of 0.30 °C/decade. Seasonally, the temperature increased the most in spring and summer; spatially, the east Tianshan experienced the most warming. (2) Climate change has affected significant warming in the Tianshan. (3) The large-scale climate teleconnections found to be associated with warming in the Tianshan include North Pacific pattern, Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV), North Atlantic Oscillation, and Western Hemisphere Warm Pool (WHWP). During the study period, the temperature changes lagged AMV and WHWP by 1.5 months, North Tropical Atlantic Index and Tropical Northern Atlantic Index by 3 months, and Arctic Oscillation by 4 months. This research contributes to understanding the response of dry mountains to global warming and atmospheric circulation changes.