Asian Coast Research Articles

Synergistic contribution of precipitation anomalies over northwestern India and the South China Sea to high temperature over the Yangtze River Valley

This study explores the characteristics of high temperature anomalies over eastern China and associated influencing factors using observations and model outputs. Results show that more long-duration (over 8 days) high temperature events occur over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Valley (YRV) than over the surrounding regions, and control most of the interannual variation of summer mean temperature in situ. The synergistic effect of summer precipitation over the South China Sea (SCS) region (18°–27°N, 115°–124°E) and the northwestern India and Arabian Sea (IAS) region (18°–27°N, 60°–80°E) contributes more significantly to the variation of summer YRV temperature, relative to the respective SCS or IAS precipitation anomaly. More precipitation (enhanced condensational heating) over the SCS region strengthens the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) and simultaneously weakens the westerly trough over the east coast of Asia, and accordingly results in associated high temperature anomalies over the YRV region through stimulating an East Asia-Pacific (EAP) pattern. More precipitation over the IAS region further adjusts the variations of the WPSH and westerly trough, and eventually reinforces high temperature anomalies over the YRV region. Furthermore, the condensational heating related to more IAS precipitation can adjust upper-tropospheric easterly anomalies over the YRV region by exciting a circumglobal teleconnection, inducing cold horizontal temperature advection and related anomalous descent, which is also conducive to the YRV high temperature anomalies. The reproduction of the above association in the model results indicates that the above results can be explained both statistically and dynamically.

The pacific electric ray Torpedo (Tetronarce) californica Ayres, 1855, the first of the order Torpediniformes in the waters of russia, with comments on the formation of its range

A description of nine specimens of the Pacific electric ray Torpedo (Tetronarce) californica Ayres, 1855, which were caught at the South Kuril Islands on the Northwest underwater ridge and off the coast of the North America, is given. The range of this species off the coast of Asia is considered. A hypothesis on the formation of the range of T. californica based on data on the geological and climatic history of the Earth is suggested.

New records of the distinctive benthic dinoflagellate genus Cabra (Dinophyceae).

The benthic dinoflagellate genus Cabra is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea and the South Atlantic Ocean, with additional records in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Asian coasts. Cabraaremorica is reported for the first time after the original description. However, these records should be considered cautiously because the distinction between Cabra aremorica and C. reticulata is difficult based on routine light microscopy observations. It is uncertain whether there is a high intraspecific morphological variability or severalco-occurring undescribed species. Cabra levis, a species recently described, is reported for first time beyond the type locality.

First records of two lobate comb-jellies (Ctenophora) from the Pakistani coast

The knowledge on the comb-jellies faunistics along the southern Asian coast is very scarce. For some countries such as Pakistan there are no previous formal records of ctenophores. This study is a first survey to the group diversity along Pakistani coast, resulting in the first records of two lobate species, Bolinopsis infundibulum and Ocyropsis maculata.

Latitudinal variability of physiological responses to heat stress of the intertidal limpet Cellana toreuma along the Asian coast

Potential future distribution shifts of intertidal invertebrates along the Asian coast in the face of global change remain unclear. Integrative study that comprise environmental temperature monitoring and comparative physiological study of thermal adaptation among different geographical populations of species are important to identify population-related differences in thermal ecology that could affect the persistence of species in their present distribution ranges. In the present study, in situ operative temperatures were recorded continuously for 5 mo from August 2011 to January 2012, and measurements of lethal temperature, cardiac performance and gene expression were carried out in 3 geographical populations of the limpet Cellana toreuma (tropical shore: Sichang Island, Thailand; subtropical shore: Nanding Island, Zhangzhou, China; temperate shore: Dagong Island, Qingdao, China). Compared to limpets on the tropical shore in Sichang Island with high mean temperature (28.28°C) and narrow thermal range (19.13 to 46.56°C), limpets on the subtropical shore in Nanding Island have to cope with a thermal environment characterized by a wider temperature range (6.42 to 44.98°C). The absence of differences in lethal temperature (LT50) of limpets from all the locations indicates that limpets currently suffer from intensive heat stress across their biogeographic range. Although the populations lacked differences in upper thermal limit, variations were noted among populations in transcriptional responses in genes linked to energy metabolism. Limpets on the subtropical shore in Nanding Island live closer to their upper thermal limits and thus will be very sensitive to future temperature increases.

Marine Pollution and the South Asian Coastal States: A Legal Appraisal

South Asia is the living place of more than one-fifth of the world’s population and it is the most densely populated region in the world. There are five coastal states in this region (i.e. Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and due to their great reliance on the sea for their livelihood, the people here contribute toward pollution which may have disastrous consequences in the long run. This article, with a brief focus on international and regional legal initiatives on marine pollution, considers the existing municipal legal framework to handle the issue in these countries. It has been revealed that this issue of marine pollution is not considered seriously yet and the existing laws are mostly outdated and leniently implemented.

EDITORIAL

In December 2014 the International Monetary Fund announced that a long-anticipated milestone had been passed and that China had overtaken the USA to become the world's largest economy. Given the size of the Chinese population, numbering 1.4 billion people (or almost 20% of all those alive today) that is perhaps not a surprise, and in terms of individual living standards, China has some way to go before its citizens achieve the same average income level as those of western Europe or North America. The growth of the Chinese economy has been echoed in the expansion of its archaeology, and articles on the prehistory and early historic societies of China have featured regularly in recent issues of Antiquity. The current issue is no exception, and in particular includes an article about one of the rather puzzling episodes in the Chinese past: the overseas voyages of the Ming admiral Zheng He (see below pp. 417–32). Between 1403 and 1433, Zheng He led seven imperially sponsored missions, each of them on a massive scale, around the coasts of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, reaching as far afield as Aden and East Africa.

Molecular characterization and phylogeny of Kalotermes populations from the Levant, and description of Kalotermes phoeniciae sp. nov.

The presence of the yellow-necked drywood termite, Kalotermes flavicollis Fabr., has been reported along most of the Mediterranean coasts of Europe, Africa and Asia. While morphological and genetic data exist on European K. flavicollis populations from western and central Mediterranean regions, data on eastern Mediterranean Kalotermes are scarce, and no genetic data exist to date. In this study, we analyzed 17 Kalotermes sp. colonies from 11 localities in the Levant (Cyprus, Lebanon, and Israel), in order to characterize genetically (mitochondrial DNA: COII, 16S, and control region) these populations. We found that samples from the Levant are genetically different from K. flavicollis, with distance values falling in the range of interspecific distances. In the phylogeny of European Kalotermes populations, samples from the Levant form a clade of their own, sister to a clade including K. flavicollis and Kalotermes italicus. Inside the eastern Mediterranean clade, all the samples from Cyprus are included in a well-supported subclade, suggesting that the colonization of the island might have occurred in a single event. These findings show that the populations we examined do not belong to the species K. flavicollis, but to a new species peculiar to the Levant, that we describe as Kalotermes phoeniciae sp. nov. It is possible that previous reports of K. flavicollis in this region can be attributed to K. phoeniciae.

Marco Polo’s Le Devisement du Monde. Narrative Voice, Language and Diversity

Book Review| January 01 2015 Marco Polo’s Le Devisement du Monde. Narrative Voice, Language and Diversity Gaunt, Simon. Marco Polo’s Le Devisement du Monde. Narrative Voice, Language and Diversity. Series: Gallica, v. 31. Cambridge, UK: D.S. Brewer, 2013. Pp. 212. Christine Chism Christine Chism UCLA Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Romanic Review (2015) 106 (1-4): 189–193. https://doi.org/10.1215/26885220-106.1-4.189 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Christine Chism; Marco Polo’s Le Devisement du Monde. Narrative Voice, Language and Diversity. Romanic Review 1 January 2015; 106 (1-4): 189–193. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/26885220-106.1-4.189 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsRomanic Review Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright © 2015 The Trustees of Columbia University2015 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Relationship between Winter Rainfall in South China and Preceding Heat Content Anomaly over Western Pacific Warm Pool and Its Possible Mechanism

By using the historical SST data provided by Japan Meteorological Agency,NCEP / NCAR reanalysis data,SST data from Hadley center,and the daily precipitation at wintertime in 1979-2010 from 753 stations in China,the relationship between winter rainfall of South China and the preceding heat content anomalies over western Pacific warm pool is studied. The results showthat winter rainfall in South China is negatively related to the heat content anomalies at 0 ~ 200 m over the key area of 6. 5°N-11. 5°N,160. 5°E-172. 5°E in June and July,thus the heat content over the key area could be regarded as a precursor of the winter rainfall. The difference field of the atmospheric circulation in winter between the cold years and the warm years resembles the regressed atmospheric circulation field against the sign reversal of heat content index defined within warm pool. It is found that there is an anomalous teleconnection on the East Asian coast in the 500 h Pa height field,with anomalous lowin South China accompanied by cyclonic circulation on 850 h Pa and divergence in upper troposphere,and with anomalous anticyclonic circulation near Philippines which significantly enhances water vapor transport to South China. It indicates that the winter rainfall in South China is more( less) in cold( warm) years. In summer,the strong westerly anomalies near the equator in the northern hemisphere results in the development of cold( warm) SST to the west( east) of key area. In late autumn,an anomalous anticyclone centered in Philippines is formed on the west of the cold SST anomalies,which is strengthened during the winter. The anomalous enhanced warm air on its northwest side transport water vapor to South China. At the same time,the anomalous Walker circulation,excited by the warm SSTA in the central and eastern Pacific,has sinking branch in the equatorial western Pacific,strengthening the Philippines anticyclone and rising motion in South China. It is the above processes that lead to more( less) winter rainfall in South China in the years of cold( warm) SST over the key area.

Southeast Asia’s Middle East

It has been for some time now a truism of sorts that the Middle East is a wider locale than the arid landscapes traditionally identified by the moniker. The notional geographies that scholars have worked with for decades are no longer so set and bound. A number of high-profile thinkers have helped put into motion this paradigm shift, asking how and in which ways histories of the Middle East might be nudged in different directions. Tagliacozzo’s article travels in these same furrows, arguing that Southeast Asia—a place seldom envisioned as part of the Middle East—is also a part of the latter’s story. Although no one is arguing that the monsoon coasts of Southeast Asia are per se part of the Middle East, they are a component part of the history of this region of the world. Tagliacozzo shows how this embrace across the Indian Ocean came about, primarily though the lenses of commerce and religion, through trade and Islam. He examines this evolution, as human beings and the products they carried started to connect these two places across the breadth of the Indian Ocean world. He also looks at how imperial energies unleashed in a later time period (primarily the nineteenth century) brought these two world arenas closer to one another in certain identifiable manners. Finally, Tagliacozzo reflects on what adding Southeast Asia into the story of Islam and the Middle East ultimately means, and what we as an intellectual community might gain from this project.

The possible influence of tropical Pacific subsurface temperature anomalies on summer precipitation in eastern China

Using NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) GODAS (Global Ocean Data Assimilation System) monthly subsurface temperature (SsT) from 1980 to 2009, a 3-D four-step model was established to categorize the SsT interannual variations in the tropical Pacific. In combination with NCEP/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis 850-hPa wind field and 160 stations' precipitation data in China, an intimate connection between the tropical Pacific SsT and eastern China summer precipitation anomalies is discovered by examining the time-lagged and simultaneous correlations among the interannual anomalies of SsT in the tropical Pacific, the 850-hPa wind pattern and summer rainfall in China. In previous winter, if the SsT in the tropical Pacific indicates an El Niño-type anomaly, an anticyclonic circulation anomaly over the East Asian coast, South China Sea and east of Taiwan along with a cyclonic circulation anomaly over the Japanese archipelago emerges in following summer. At the same time, a cyclonic circulation and an anticyclonic circulation prevail over the Lake Baikal and Kuril Islands in the high latitude. These combined circulation patterns facilitate the southward transport of cold air from high latitude and northward transport of warm and moist air through the western edge of the subtropical high. The meet between two air masses results in significantly abundant anomalous precipitation in the Sichuan Basin, Dongting and Poyang Lake Basin, and possibly deficit precipitation occurs over the Hetao region and lower Yellow River Basin, northern Zhejiang, as well as the coastal region of southern China and southern Yunnan. These findings offer a very useful predictive power for eastern China summer precipitation based on tropical Pacific SsT status in previous winter and subsequent developments of SsT and East Asian large-scale circulations.

Molecular identity, morphology and taxonomy of the Rhynchospio glutaea complex with a key to Rhynchospio species (Annelida, Spionidae)

Rhynchospio glutaea (Ehlers, 1897), Rhynchospio arenincola Hartman, 1936 and Rhynchospio arenincola asiatica Chlebovitsch, 1959, originally described from Strait of Magellan, California, and South Kurile Islands respectively, appear similar to each other in adult morphology. These species and subspecies have been considered by some authors as subjective synonyms and are here referred to as members of the R. glutaea complex. Sequence data of four gene fragments (2465 bp in total) of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA, nuclear 18S and 28S rDNA, and Histone 3 have shown that R. glutaea complex individuals from the South West Atlantic (Argentina), North East Pacific (British Columbia and Oregon) and North West Pacific (South Korea) were genetically distant and not conspecific. These data also indicate that R. arenincola from North America and R. aff. asiatica from South Korea are more closely related to each other, and both are closer to R. glutaea from South America than to R. nhatrangi from Vietnam: nhatrangi (glutaea (arenincola-aff. asiatica)). Adults of the R. glutaea complex are hermaphrodites and the arrangement of gametes is suggested to be a crucial reproductive character for distinguishing these species. Based on this character, two species of the complex are apparent in the North West Pacific: R. asiatica Chlebovitsch, 1959 stat. nov. from the Kurile Islands (not analysed here) and an unnamed species from the mainland coast of Asia (here referred to as R. aff. asiatica). Adult morphology of R. asiatica stat. nov. is briefly described and illustrated. The lectotype and the type locality of the species on Iturup Is. are established for the first time. An identification key is provided to the 10 currently recognized Rhynchospio species.

A study on genetic structure of giant clam (Tridacna spp.) (Tridacninae) population in south central and southern Vietnam’s coast

Giant clams have economic value and play an important role in coral reef ecology. However, in recent years, giant clam resources have been declining due to overexploitation. This study investigated the population genetic structure of giant clams (Tridacnae spp.) in South Central and Southern Vietnam’s coast. Analysis of genetic diversity and population structure of two species of giant clams (Tridacna crocea collected in Nha Trang Bay and Con Dao and T. squamosa collected in Nha Trang Bay and Phu Quoc Island) was done based on CO1 mitochondrial DNA. The results showed that populations of T. crocea represented the average diversity with sequence differences between individuals 0-3.5%, 10 haplotypes/30 individuals (haplotype diversity= 0.846) in Nha Trang Bay and sequence differences 0-9.7%, 16 halotypes/28 individuals (haplotype diversity=0.934) in Con Dao. Populations of T. squamosa expressed the low diversity with the genetic sequence differences 0-2.1%, 7 haplotypes/19 individuals (haplotype diversity=0.468) in Nha Trang Bay and the genetic sequence differences 0-1.72%, 5 halotypes/18 individuals in Phu Quoc (haplotype diversity=0.314). Phylogenetic tree did not show the specific population structure of two species from South Central and Southern coast of Vietnam. Simultaneously, populations of two species of giant clams in Vietnam had close relationship with the genetics of giant clam populations collected in some areas of Southeast Asian coast.

After Sandy: Rethinking Flood Risk Management in Asian Coastal Megacities

The tropical storm, and for a time hurricane, named Sandy arrived on the U.S. east coast on October 30, 2012, and delivered a 5.1-m storm surge, the highest since 1851, to the heart of the country’s financial hub in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City (NYC) (Fig. 1) [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 2012]. As a result, there were more than 40 fatalities across the city, and the storm-related death toll across the northeast United States reached 63. Sixty-nine deaths in the Caribbean region meant that the total number of casualties caused by the storm was 132 [British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 2012; Fischetti 2012]. Public transport systems were submerged, the runways of two major airports (John F. Kennedy and Newark) were flooded and closed, and the New York Stock Exchange was shut down for 2 days. The forecasting firm Equcat estimated the likely total cost of damages to be more than $85 billion (Reuters 2012b). Reuters estimated damage of at least $18 billion in the area between downtown and Long Island alone (Reuters 2012a). To put this in context, the average annual losses from cyclones, storm surges, coastal floods, and winds in the United States are estimated to be in the region of just $10 billion per year. Although the magnitude of Sandy was less intense than Katrina in 2005, Sandy affected a larger area; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA 2012) reported strong winds (greater than 65 km=h) for a distance of approximately 500 km during Hurricane Katrina, whereas Sandy prevailed for over 1,500 km at a similar intensity. This is possibly the main reason why Sandy generated sea surges over a larger coastal area than did Katrina, and affected more than 12 states on the east coast [China Central Television (CCTV) 2012]. Previous research (Webster et al. 2005) has indicated that the frequency and intensity of cyclones (i.e., hurricanes and typhoons) has increased in the past 50 years, and that the trend is expected to rise continuously this century because of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2012) also reported that it is likely that there has been a poleward shift in the main Northern Hemisphere extratropical storm tracks, which means that the potential for intense storms that produce significant wind and extreme rainfall is slightly increased. The impact of Storm Sandy reflects the vulnerability of coastal megacities across the globe. This vulnerability exists because human settlement, including properties and infrastructure, is located mostly in low-lying flood-prone areas similar to those of New York City. The major financial hub of Wall Street, for example, is just a mile away from the harbor. An accepted definition of a megacity is a city with a population of 8 million or more (United Nations 2010). NYC has 8.2 million inhabitants, approximately 2 million of whom live on Long Island or smaller islands and in flood-prone areas. The city government realized that it would be impossible to relocate this number of people and associated assets outside of the hazard areas, and has therefore started to adapt flood-management strategies in preparation for climate change (NYC Government 2012). Adaptation practices such as assessment of surge risk, flood-risk mapping, prediction of risks from various climate scenarios, and enhanced emergency evacuation plans have been implemented since 2010 (Klima et al. 2011). The city’s storm warning system was activated some 41 h before Storm Sandy arrived, at which point city authorities announced the closure of the financial markets and advised residents to stock up on food and water. Recommendations to employ sandbags for flood

The Climatology and Interannual Variability of the East Asian Winter Monsoon in CMIP5 Models

AbstractIn this paper the model outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) phase 5 (CMIP5) are used to examine the climatology and interannual variability of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM). The multimodel ensemble (MME) is able to reproduce reasonably well the circulation features of the EAWM. The simulated surface air temperature still suffers from a cold bias over East Asia, but this bias is reduced compared with CMIP phase 3 models. The intermodel spread is relatively small for the large-scale circulations, but is large for the lower-tropospheric meridional wind and precipitation along the East Asian coast. The interannual variability of the EAWM-related circulations can be captured by most of the models. A general bias is that the simulated variability is slightly weaker than in the observations. Based on a selected dynamic EAWM index, the patterns of the EAWM-related anomalies are well reproduced in MME although the simulated anomalies are slightly weaker than the observations. One general bias is that the northeasterly anomalies over East Asia cannot be captured to the south of 30°N. This bias may arise both from the inadequacies of the EAWM index and from the ability of models to capture the EAWM-related tropical–extratropical interactions. The ENSO–EAWM relationship is then evaluated and about half of the models can successfully capture the observed ENSO–EAWM relationship, including the significant negative correlation between Niño-3.4 and EAWM indices and the anomalous anticyclone (or cyclone) over the northwestern Pacific. The success of these models is attributed to the reasonable simulation of both ENSO’s spatial structure and its strength of interannual variability.

ENSO Effect on East Asian Tropical Cyclone Landfall via Changes in Tracks and Genesis in a Statistical Model

AbstractImprovements on a statistical tropical cyclone (TC) track model in the western North Pacific Ocean are described. The goal of the model is to study the effect of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on East Asian TC landfall. The model is based on the International Best-Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) database of TC observations for 1945–2007 and employs local regression of TC formation rates and track increments on the Niño-3.4 index and seasonally varying climate parameters. The main improvements are the inclusion of ENSO dependence in the track propagation and accounting for seasonality in both genesis and tracks. A comparison of simulations of the 1945–2007 period with observations concludes that the model updates improve the skill of this model in simulating TCs. Changes in TC genesis and tracks are analyzed separately and cumulatively in simulations of stationary extreme ENSO states. ENSO effects on regional (100-km scale) landfall are attributed to changes in genesis and tracks. The effect of ENSO on genesis is predominantly a shift in genesis location from the southeast in El Niño years to the northwest in La Niña years, resulting in higher landfall rates for the East Asian coast during La Niña. The effect of ENSO on track propagation varies seasonally and spatially. In the peak activity season (July–October), there are significant changes in mean tracks with ENSO. Landfall-rate changes from genesis– and track–ENSO effects in the Philippines cancel out, while coastal segments of Vietnam, China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan show enhanced La Niña–year increases.

Change in the contribution of spring snow cover and remote oceans to summer air temperature anomaly over Northeast China around 1990

AbstractSea surface temperature (SST), snow cover, and soil moisture anomalies are factors for climate variability over land regions. The present study found that the relationship between in situ spring snow cover and Northeast China summer surface temperature variations is not steady. It is significant during mid‐1970s through late 1980s but weak during the 1990s and 2000s. This interdecadal change in the spring snow cover‐summer temperature relationship is found to relate to the effects of SST anomalies in the tropical Indian Ocean and western Pacific regions during the recent decades. These SST anomalies induce a meridional circulation pattern along the East Asian coast. The remote SST forcing‐induced circulation and precipitation anomalies overcome local snow cover‐induced soil moisture anomalies and thus disrupt the spring snow cover‐summer temperature connection during the recent decades. The present study indicated that both the North Atlantic SST anomaly pattern and local spring snow cover anomalies contribute to Northeast China summer temperature variations during mid‐1970s through late 1980s. During the 1990s and 2000s, the influence of the North Atlantic SST anomalies is weakened, and the SST anomaly in the tropical Indo‐western Pacific region is a major player in Northeast China summer temperature variations.

Multidecadal Variability of North China Aridity and Its Relationship to PDO during 1900–2010

Abstract North China has undergone a severe drying trend since the 1950s, but whether this trend is natural variability or anthropogenic change remains unknown due to the short data length. This study extends the analysis of dry–wet changes in north China to 1900–2010 on the basis of self-calibrated Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) data. The ensemble empirical mode decomposition method is used to detect multidecadal variability. A transition from significant wetting to significant drying is detected around 1959/60. Approximately 70% of the drying trend during 1960–90 originates from 50–70-yr multidecadal variability related to Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) phase changes. The PDSI in north China is significantly negatively correlated with the PDO index, particularly at the 50–70-yr time scale, and is also stable during 1900–2010. Composite differences between two positive PDO phases (1922–45 and 1977–2002) and one negative PDO phase (1946–76) for summer exhibit an anomalous Pacific–Japan/East Asian–Pacific patternlike teleconnection, which may develop locally in response to the PDO-associated warm sea surface temperature anomalies in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean and meridionally extends from the tropical western Pacific to north China along the East Asian coast. North China is dominated by an anomalous high pressure system at mid–low levels and an anticyclone at 850 hPa, which are favorable for dry conditions. In addition, a weakened land–sea thermal contrast in East Asia from a negative to a positive PDO phase also plays a role in the dry conditions in north China by weakening the East Asian summer monsoon.

Hedging Disaster

Hedging Disaster