East-west Difference Research Articles

East–West Difference in the Ionospheric Response During the Recovery Phase of May 2024 Super Geomagnetic Storm Over the East Asian

AbstractIn this study, we offer an extensive examination of the F‐region ionospheric disturbances during the May 2024 superstorm, focusing primarily on the middle‐low latitude regions of East Asia. Our analysis is grounded in a wealth of data sources including Total Electron Content (TEC), ionospheric parameters NmF2 and hmF2, Electron Density Profile (EDP) retrieved from Radio Occultation (RO) data, and ∑[O]/[N2] from the Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI), among others, complemented by model simulations. The observed negative ionospheric storm effect, characterized by a significant and long‐lasting reduction in electron density across the entire China, commenced immediately following the sudden storm commencement (SSC) on 10 May and continued through the main and early recovery phase of the storm on 11 May. On 11–12 May, positive ionospheric storm impacts were initially observed in a restricted geographical area from the post‐midnight to sunrise, first manifesting over the eastern regions of China and then shifting to the central regions. Subsequently, a pronounced negative storm effect persisted throughout the later stages of recovery phase. In contrast, the western regions of China experienced a positive storm effect on 12 May followed by a comparatively mild negative storm phase. This persistent extensive zonal gradient in electron density across the East Asian region resembles the scenarios depicted in prior superstorms attributed to the thermospheric circulation patterns. The disparity in the ionospheric response from east to west in this area is probably a common feature during superstorms, potentially resulting from an arch‐shaped structure of elevated ∑[O]/[N2].

Global value chains and carbon emission efficiency: evidence from 30 provinces in China

ABSTRACT The severity of global environmental change is a growing issue, primarily as an obvious result of carbon dioxide emissions. This article aims to recognize the causal relationship between Global Value Chains (GVCs) and Carbon Emission Efficiency (CEE) by using 30 provinces from 2000 to 2014 in China. This study calculates the GVCs level in the provincial level considering general trade, process trade, and intermediate trade agents; Besides, a model for the slacks-based measure of super-efficiency in data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) was used to measure the CEE. By applying fixed effect model techniques, our estimates reveal critical findings. First, we confirm the existence of the spatial-temporal evolution pattern of CEE in 30 provinces, showing an increased trend and noticeable east-west difference. Second, the econometric results suggest that the GVCs involvement is beneficiary for the CEE. Third, our results confirm that technological innovation and environmental regulation effects contribute to GVCs’ influence on CEE. These findings contribute to the formulation of appropriate carbon policies by the Chinese government, thereby advancing the objective of achieving carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

Thermal, water, and land cover factors led to contrasting urban and rural vegetation resilience to extreme hot months.

With continuing global warming and urbanization, it is increasingly important to understand the resilience of urban vegetation to extreme high temperatures, but few studies have examined urban vegetation at large scale or both concurrent and delayed responses. In this study, we performed an urban-rural comparison using the Enhanced Vegetation Index and months that exceed the historical 90th percentile in mean temperature (referred to as "hot months") across 85 major cities in the contiguous United States. We found that hot months initially enhanced vegetation greenness but could cause a decline afterwards, especially for persistent (≥4 months) and intense (≥+2 °C) episodes in summer. The urban responses were more positive than rural in the western United States or in winter, but more negative during spring-autumn in the eastern United States. The east-west difference can be attributed to the higher optimal growth temperatures and lower water stress levels of the western urban vegetation than the rural. The urban responses also had smaller magnitudes than the rural responses, especially in deciduous forest biomes, and least in evergreen forest biomes. Within each biome, analysis at 1 km pixel level showed that impervious fraction and vegetation cover, local urban heat island intensity, and water stress were the key drivers of urban-rural differences. These findings advance our understanding of how prolonged exposure to warm extremes, particularly within urban environments, affects vegetation greenness and vitality. Urban planners and ecosystem managers should prioritize the long and intense events and the key drivers in fostering urban vegetation resilience to heat waves.

Spatial-temporal evolution mechanism and efficiency evaluation of drought resilience system in China

The frequent occurrence of drought events poses significant challenges to regional sustainable development. Assessing regional drought resilience and efficiency is beneficial for governments to allocate disaster relief funds effectively and assist regions in enhancing their disaster resilience capabilities. In this study, we construct a “social-economic-environmental-institutional” drought resilience assessment framework to reveal the temporal and spatial evolution mechanism and spatial autocorrelation of drought resilience, explore the main factors influencing the evolution of this spatial pattern and the strength and interaction mechanisms among such influencing factors. And build a model from the perspective of input and output, use the SBM-DEA model to evaluate the efficiency of drought resistance, and reveal the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of drought resistance in different regions. The results show that China's drought resilience over the past 10 years has increased by an average index value of 13.14%, showing an overall increasing trend. The drought resilience level of coastal provinces in eastern China is relatively higher, while the resilience level in the inland northwest region is relatively lower. China's drought resilience has significant positive spatial correlation, the development of resilience is in a relatively stable spatial pattern. The H–H aggregation area is distributed in the southeastern coastal area, while the L-L aggregation area is distributed in western China, and the east-west difference is significant. Environmental indicators, such as annual average rainfall and annual average temperature, are the main factors causing spatial differentiation in drought resilience in the China, and the interaction between influencing factors is greater than the impact of a single factor. The drought resilience efficiency of provinces in the inland northwest and southeastern coastal areas is relatively high, while that of provinces in the southwest and northeast is relatively low. China's drought resilience efficiency still needs to be improved. Our research findings offer insights into the development of drought resilience in China, providing support for understanding disaster risk assessment and sustainable development.

Spatiotemporal Variation Characteristics of Droughts and Their Connection to Climate Variability and Human Activity in the Pearl River Basin, South China

Droughts have damaging impacts on human society and ecological environments. Therefore, studying the impacts of climate variability and human activity on droughts has very important scientific value and social significance in order to understand drought warnings and weaken the adverse impacts of droughts. In this study, we used a combined drought index based on five Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On solutions to characterize droughts in the Pearl River basin (PRB) and its sub-basins during 2003 and 2020. Then, we accurately quantified the impact of climate variability and human activity on droughts in the PRB and seven sub-basins by combining the hydrometeorological climate index and in situ human activity data. The results show that 14 droughts were identified in the PRB, particularly the North River basin with the most drought months (52.78%). The El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole were found to have important impacts on droughts in the PRB. They affect the operation of the atmospheric circulation, as well as the East Asia summer monsoon, resulting in a decrease in precipitation in the PRB. This impact shows a significant east–west difference on the spatial scale. The middle and upper reaches of the PRB were found to be dominated by SM, while the lower reaches were found to be dominated by GW. Human activity was found to mainly exacerbate droughts in the PRB, but also plays a significant role in reducing peak magnitude. The sub-basins with a higher proportion of total water consumption experienced more droughts (more than 11), and vice versa. The Pearl River Delta showed the highest drought intensification. Reservoir storage significantly reduces the drought peak and severity, but the impact effect depends on its application and balance with the total water consumption. Our study provides a reference for analyzing the drought characteristics, causes, and impacts of sub-basins on a global scale.

The increasing big gap of carbon sink between the western and eastern Pacific in the last three decades

The Pacific Ocean is one of the important carbon sink regions, and there is a significant west-east difference in sea-air CO2 flux. However, the influence of the long-standing greater CO2 uptakes in the western Pacific than in the east and the dynamic change of this west-east difference remain unclear. In this paper, using the gridded surface ocean pCO2 product constructed by the stepwise FFNN algorithm, we reported an increasing west-east CO2 flux difference from 0.41 PgC yr-1 in 1992 to 0.73 PgC yr-1 in 2020. This increase was mainly attributed to the strengthening western Pacific carbon sink and relatively stable eastern Pacific carbon source. During El Nino events, the west-east CO2 flux difference decreased significantly in a few years, and it then rose back rapidly when El Nino events ended. In addition, the increasing west-east difference in CO2 uptakes during the last three decades did not lead to a higher acidification speed in the western surface temperate Pacific than the east. The greater CO2 absorbed in the west was mainly transported to the deeper waters and caused a more significant carbon inventory change at 200-600 m than the eastern Pacific.

Sustainable Development of Life Service Resources: A New Framework Based on GIScience and Spatial Justice

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) reflect the pursuit of achieving spatial justice. Both SDG 1.4 and SDG 11.1 reflect a concern for urban services. Life service resources, which are the new concept proposed by the Chinese government, also call for sustainable development path. However, few studies have focused on the realization of spatial justice in life service resources. This paper proposes a two-level, four-step analysis framework composed of quantity, structure, pattern, and coupling coordination to perceive the spatial justice of life service resources. Based on remote sensing technology and geographic information science, this paper acquires and analyses multi-source data including population density, building outlines, point of interests, subway lines, etc. Furthermore, the case study in downtown Beijing found the following: (1) The total life service resources are extensive and varying in type; (2) regional differences are evident and low-level equilibrium and high-level priority development coexist; (3) life service resources are concentrated in contiguous and multi-centre clusters with a greater north–south than east–west difference; (4) the overall level of life service resources is low, specifically for “high in the centre and low in the periphery” and “high in the east and low in the west”. Future management should consider narrowing the development gap and formulating industry development plans to improve spatial justice. Finally, the comparison between Beijing and London and more cities in the future needs to consider the urban development stage, population density, and other aspects.

A cyclone-centered perspective on the drivers of asymmetric patterns in the atmosphere and sea ice during Arctic cyclones

AbstractArctic cyclones are an extremely common, year-round phenomenon, with substantial influence on sea ice. However, few studies address the heterogeneity in the spatial patterns in the atmosphere and sea ice during Arctic cyclones. We investigate these spatial patterns by compositing on cyclones from 1985-2016 using a novel, cyclone-centered approach that reveals conditions as functions of bearing and distance from cyclone centers. An axisymmetric, cold core model for the structure of Arctic cyclones has previously been proposed, however, we show that the structure of Arctic cyclones is comparable to those in the mid-latitudes, with cyclonic surface winds, a warm, moist sector to the east of cyclones and a cold, dry sector to the west. There is no consensus on the impact of Arctic cyclones on sea ice, as some studies have shown that Arctic cyclones lead to sea ice growth and others to sea ice loss. Instead, we find that sea ice decreases to the east of Arctic cyclones and increases to the west, with the greatest changes occurring in the marginal ice zone. Using a sea ice model forced with prescribed atmospheric reanalysis, we reveal the relative importance of the dynamic and thermodynamic forcing of Arctic cyclones on sea ice. The dynamic and thermodynamic responses of sea ice concentration to cyclones are comparable in magnitude, however dynamic processes dominate the response of sea ice thickness and are the primary driver of the east-west difference in the sea ice response to cyclones.

Visegrád four political regionalism as a critical reflection of Europeanization: deciphering the “Illiberal Turn”

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the significance and potential consequences of illiberal politics for the Visegrád Group’s (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) role as a regional integration platform. Moreover, links between Europeanization and V4 geopolitical identity will be explored as part of investigating discursive framings of Central Europe’s “illiberalism.” I suggest that illiberal regionalism is a useful concept in that it problematizes political and popular narrations of East-West difference as competing projects of Europeanization. I will also argue that instead of a fundamental regional illiberalism what we find is an unstable, temporally limited and contingent constellation of political and social agendas. Illiberal regionalism can thus be read as strategic, aguably opportunistic, contestations of EU policies that reflect economic, political, and social uncertainties. Tensions involved in this regionalist shift are exemplified by “revolutionary” Hungarian and Polish national conservative agendas and their interaction with the more measured pragmatism of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is also clear that illiberal regionalism reflects the reciprocal and interdependent nature of the V4’s political relations within the EU. Benefits of EU membership, such as leveraging and enhancing national status, continue to act as powerful counter-currents to more radical projects that would, for example, contest Euro-Atlantic alignments.

China’s High-quality Economic Development Level and the Source of Differences: Based on the Inclusive Green TFP Perspective

The inclusive green TFP can scientifically cover the ideas of innovation, coordination, green, and sharing based on the new development pattern of the domestic circulation as the main body, which can effectively reflect the high-quality development level of China’s economy. At the same time, China needs to build a new situation of regional high-quality coordinated development that has high-quality, high-efficiency, fairness, and sustainability. The inclusive green development is a new development concept. At present, there are relatively more studies by foreign scholars, and relatively few domestic studies.We construct an inclusive green Solow model and an index measurement system based on the connotation of high-quality economic development, apply the U-SE-SBM-DEA model and the global reference ML index to measure the inclusive green TFP of 30 provinces and cities from 2006 to 2018, and use Dagum Gini coefficient and variance decomposition to comprehensively examine the source of differences from the dual perspectives of region and structure. We discover that China’s inclusive green TFP is steadily improving, and technological progress contributes the most. The inclusive green TFP of four regions is on the rise, but the phenomenon of low level and slow improvement of the northeast should be paid attention to. The growth rate of the south is significantly higher than that of the north, and it surpassed the north in 2016. The gap gradually widens afterwards. The overall difference of the inclusive green TFP is on the rise. The north-south difference is generally lower than the east-west difference, but it has basically caught up in recent years. Hyper-variable density is the main source in four regions. The contribution of intra-regional differences is higher than inter-regional differences in four regions and the north-south regions. The difference of the inclusive green TFP mainly comes from the difference in technological progress, but it is declining. This article can help to understand the current situation of China’s economic inclusive green development, and provide a new perspective to narrow the difference of China’s regional high-quality economy.The marginal contribution could be concluded in three aspects: First, from the research object, for the first time, this article incorporates environmental pollution and social injustice as undesired outputs into the economic growth model, and constructs an inclusive green Solow model and an index measurement system. Second, from the research perspective, this article explores the regional changes and driving patterns, and studies the source of differences from the dual perspective of region and structure according to four regions and the north-south regions. Third, from the research method, this article uses the U-SE-SBM-DEA model and the global reference ML index to measure the inclusive green TFP of 30 provinces and cities in China, and adopts Dagum Gini coefficient and variance decomposition to explore the source of differences.

Spatiotemporal pattern and coordination relationship between urban residential land price and land use intensity in 31 provinces and cities in China.

The trend towards efficient and intensive use of land resources is an inevitable outcome of current social development. The rational matching of urban land prices and land use intensity has become an important factor under accelerating urbanization, and promotes the healthy development of the social economy. Using data on residential land price and on land use intensity for 31 provinces and cities in China, we employ the E-G cointegration test and quadrant map classification to determine the coordination relationship between land price and land use intensity. We then employ HR coordination to calculate the coordination degree of land price and land use intensity, and classify the coordination type accordingly. Our results are as follows. (1) The spatio-temporal distribution of urban land price shows high variability with multiple maxima, and follows a decreasing trend from the southeast coastal area to the northwest inland area and the northeast. (2) The overall land use intensity is at or above the middle level, and shows large spatial differences between provinces, but the agglomeration between provinces is increasing. (3) From the perspective of the relationship between urban land price and land use intensity at the inter-provincial scale, we find that the land price and land use intensity are well coordinated, and the number of provinces has been dynamically changing during different development periods. There is an east-west difference in the spatial distribution of land price and land use intensity coordination level. Different provinces and cities with the same coordination stage show differences in their land price and land use intensity level.

Detection of the Ether Using the Global Positioning System

In this paper the latest evidence for the existence of a cosmic ether obtained using modern technology is reviewed. The synchronized clocks of the GPS are applied in the search for ether drift by direct measurement of light travel times in the East-West direction. This method reveals that light travels faster West than East and therefore indicates the existence of an Earth-bound ether which we identify as the Earth-centered Inertial (ECI) frame for light transmission. The GPS clocks are then applied in the search for ether drift by direct measurement of light travel times in a modified Michelson-Morley experiment. The East-West light speed difference enables the unambiguous detection of ether drift and the direct confirmation of the existence of a preferred frame. The range equation of the GPS that operates in the Earth-centered inertial (ECI) frame is employed to demonstrate ether drift for rotational motion and Time Transfer technology involving a geo-stationary GPS satellite provides further confirmation of ether drift resulting from the rotating Earth. Finally, using a model applicable in the sun-centered inertial (SCI) frame with Coordinated Universal Time, light speed variation arising from the Earth's orbital motion for light reflected from planets and spacecraft and received at the surface of the Earth is demonstrated. The evidence then is that modern technology has detected ether drift for rotational and orbital motion from the frame of the moving Earth.

Characteristics of the summer atmospheric boundary layer height over the Tibetan Plateau and influential factors

Abstract. The important roles of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in climate, weather, and air quality have long been recognized, but little is known about the TP ABL climatological features and their west–east discrepancies due to the scarce data in the western TP. Based on observational datasets of intensive sounding, surface sensible heat flux, solar radiation, and soil moisture from the Third Tibetan Plateau Atmospheric Scientific Experiment (TIPEX-III) and the routine meteorological-operational-sounding and ground-based cloud cover datasets in the Tibetan Plateau for the period 2013–2015, we investigate the west–east differences in summer ABL features over the TP and the associated influential factors for the first time. It is found that the heights of both the convective boundary layer (CBL) and the neutral boundary layer (NBL) exhibit a diurnal variation and a west–east difference in the TP, while these features are not remarkable for the stable boundary layer (SBL). Moreover, the ABL shows significant discrepancies in the amplitude of the diurnal variation and the persistent time of the development between the eastern and western TP. In the early morning (08:00 BJT, Beijing time), the ABL height distribution is narrow, with a mean height below 450 m a.g.l. (above ground level) and a small west–east difference. The SBL observed at this moment accounts for 85 % of the total TP ABL. There is a wide distribution in the ABL height up to 4000 m a.g.l. and a large west–east difference for the total ABL height at noon (14:00 BJT), with a mean height above 2000 m a.g.l. in the western TP and around 1500 m a.g.l. in the eastern TP. The CBL accounts for 77 % of the total TP ABL at this moment, with more than 50 % of the CBL above 1900 m a.g.l. In the late afternoon (20:00 BJT), the CBL and SBL dominate the western and eastern TP, respectively, which results in a larger west–east difference of 1054.2 m between the western and eastern TP. The high ABL height in a cold environment over the western TP (relative to the plain areas) is similar to that in some extreme hot and arid areas such as Dunhuang and Taklimakan deserts. In general, for the western (eastern) TP, there is low (high) total cloud coverage, with large (small) solar radiation at the surface and dry (wet) soil. These features lead to high (low) sensible heat flux and thus promote (inhibit) the local ABL development. This study provides new insights for west–east structures of the summer ABL height, occurrence frequency, and diurnal amplitude over the TP region and the associated reasons.

Changes in the End-of-Summer Snow Line Altitude of Summer-Accumulation-Type Glaciers in the Eastern Tien Shan Mountains from 1994 to 2016

For summer-accumulation-type glaciers, the glaciological literature is lacking studies on determining the snow line altitude (SLA) from optical images at the end of the summer as an indicator of the equilibrium line altitude (ELA). This paper presents a workflow for extracting the SLA from Landsat images based on the variation in the albedo with the altitude in the central line area of glaciers. The correlation of >0.8 at the 99% confidence level between the retrieved SLAs with ELAs derived from the interpolation of ground-based, mass balance measurements indicated that the workflow can be applied to derive the SLA from end-of-summer satellite data as an indicator of ELA. The ELA was under-estimated by the calculated SLA. The relationship between the end-of-summer SLA and the ELA depends on the intensity of glacier melting. Subsequently, the workflow was applied to the seven glaciers in the Eastern Tien Shan Mountains, and a time series of the SLA was obtained using 12 end-of-summer Landsat scenes from 1994 to 2016. Over the whole study period, a mean SLA of 4011.6 ± 20.7 m above sea level (a.s.l.) was derived for the seven investigated glaciers, and an increasing SLA was demonstrated. The increase in SLAs was consistent for the seven glaciers from 1994 to 2016. Concerning the spatial variability, the east–west difference was prominent, and these differences exhibited a decreasing trend. The average SLA of each glacier is more influenced by its morpho-topographic variables. The interannual variations in the average SLA are mainly driven by the increasing summer air temperature, and the high correlation with the cumulative summer solid precipitation reflects the characteristics of the summer-accumulation-type glaciers.

Spatial distribution and natural environment mechanism of the cholera epidemic in ancient Jiangnan area, China.

Cholera, as an acute, high-risk and widespread infectious disease, has been studied by many scholars. Based on the data from <Annals of Epidemics in China over the Past 3000 Years>, this research investigated the spatial distribution of the cholera epidemic and natural environment mechanism of the cholera epidemic in the Jiangnan area, from the year 1820 to 1821. We applied a set of spatial statistical analyses to investigate the spatial heterogeneity and the factors that influence the cholera epidemic in the Jiangnan area. Results show that: 1) Spatial distribution of cholera epidemic lied at different geographical scales. The cholera epidemic was highly concentrated in Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou; There was a north-south difference of cholera epidemic distribution at the regional scale. The cholera epidemic was more concentrated in the north part than in the south part of the Jiangnan area; Meanwhile, there was an east-west difference in cholera epidemic distribution where the intensity of the cholera epidemic decreased from east to northwest and southwest. 2) A land-sea distribution of cholera can be also found. The Chang-Hang line and the Hu-Jia line were the two boundaries of the cholera epidemic in the Jiangnan area. 3) There was a close relationship between the distribution of the cholera epidemic and natural environment in the Jiangnan area. The influence intensity of natural factors on epidemic disasters followed the order of temperature (0.760) > precipitation (0.663) > river distance (0.413) > river density (0.398) > elevation (0.395). The present investigation is conductive to establish a prevention system for public health emergencies, which contributes to the sustainable development of society and human health.

Seasonal variability of mixed layer depth from Argo floats in the central Red Sea

Argo floats are one of the eminent ocean observation systems which retrieve frequent measurements of temperature and salinity profiles in the remote marine environment and provide vital information about the world ocean with or without direct access to the human. The Argo floats available in the Red Sea are not well explored by the research community so far. In the present study, the temperature and salinity data from two Argo floats available in the central Red Sea for a period of 2 years are used to examine the mixed layer depth variability in the region. The mixed layer in the region is maximum during February associated with a decrease in static stability and shallowest during August due to an increase in static stability. A noticeable difference is observed in the existing mixed layer structure by the presence of eddies. The analysis of monthly mean thermal and haline structure showed that the warming of the surface layer is intense from March to August followed by cooling from September to February. The surface layer salinity increased from May to October and decreased in the following months. A noticeable east-west difference is observed in the thermal and haline structure, where the eastern side of the region is warmer by ~0.3 °C and less saline by ~0.1 PSU.

Multi-dimensional influence measurement of urbanization on the quality of natural living environment in China

With the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization and the continuous improvement of social productivity, people are increasingly demanding a higher quality of the living environment. Based on existing research, this study built a compiled index system to evaluate the quality of natural living environment (NLEQ). Thereafter, the spatiotemporal characteristics of NLEQ were analyzed using a panel regression analysis, to explore the mechanism of urbanization through the multi-dimensional method of system–subsystem–factors. The results show that NLEQ significantly improved from 2008 to 2017; resource-environmental quality (REQ) had a north–south difference, while environmental pollution governance (EPG) had an east–west difference due to the different influences of urbanization on NLEQ, REQ, and EPG. Industrial urbanization had a significant influence on REQ, and population urbanization and land urbanization had a significant influence on EPG. These results suggest that more attention should be paid to resource conservation and pollution treatment in the context of rapid urbanization. This article describes the evaluation of NLEQ and discusses the relationship between urbanization and NLEQ from a geographical perspective. It is of critical reference to study regional development imbalances in the natural living environment, in order to construct an ecological civilization.

Regional differences in diabetes across Europe – regression and causal forest analyses

We examine regional differences in diabetes within Europe, and relate them to variations in socio-economic conditions, comorbidities, health behaviour and diabetes management. We use the SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) data of 15 European countries and 28,454 individuals, who participated both in the 4th and 7th (year 2011 and 2017) waves of the survey. First, we estimate multivariate regressions, where the outcome variables are diabetes prevalence, diabetes incidence, and weight loss due to diet as an indicator of management. Second, we study the heterogeneous impact of demographic, socio-economic, health and lifestyle indicators on the regional differences in diabetes incidence with causal random forests.Compared to Western Europe, the odds of a new diabetes diagnosis over a six-year horizon is 2.2-fold higher in Southern and 2.6-fold higher in Eastern Europe. Adjusting for individual characteristics, the odds ratio decreases to 1.8 in the South-West and to 2.0 in the East-West dimension. These remaining differences are mostly explained by country-specific healthcare indicators. Based on the causal forest approach, the adjusted East-West difference is essentially zero for the lowest risk groups (tertiary education, employment, no hypertension, no overweight) and increases substantially with these risk factors, but the South-West difference is much less heterogeneous. The prevalence of diet-related weight loss around the time of diagnosis also exhibits regional variation. The results suggest that the regional differences in diabetes incidence could be reduced by putting more emphasis on diabetes prevention among high-risk individuals in Eastern and Southern Europe.

Sea Level Variability in the Red Sea: A Persistent East–West Pattern

Based on 26 years of satellite altimetry, this study reveals the presence of a persistent east–west pattern in the sea level of the Red Sea, which is visible throughout the years when considering the east–west difference in sea level. This eastern–western (EW) difference is positive during winter when a higher sea level is observed at the eastern coast of the Red Sea and the opposite occurs during summer. May and October are transition months that show a mixed pattern in the sea level difference. The EW difference in the southern Red Sea has a slightly higher range compared to that of the northern region during summer, by an average of 0.2 cm. Wavelet analysis shows a significant annual cycle along with other signals of lower magnitude for both the northern and southern Red Sea. Removing the annual cycle reveals two energy peaks with periodicities of &lt;12 months and 3–7 years, representing the intraseasonal and El Nino—Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signals, respectively. Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis shows that EOF1 corresponds to 98% of total variability, EOF2 to 1.3%, and EOF3 to 0.4%. The remote response of ENSO is evident in the variability in the atmospheric bridge, while that of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is weak. Three physical mechanisms are responsible for the occurrence of this EW difference phenomenon, namely wind, buoyancy, and the polarity of eddies.

Investigation of the Heat Budget of the Tropical Indian Ocean During Indian Ocean Dipole Events Occurring After ENSO

The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is an important natural mode of the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO). Sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) variations in the TIO are an essential focus of the study of the IOD. Monthly variations of air-sea heat flux, rate of change of heat content and oceanic thermal advection in positive/negative IOD events (pIODs/nIODs) occurring after El Nino/La Nina were investigated, using long-series authoritative data, including sea surface wind, sea surface flux, ocean current, etc. It was found that the zonal wind anomaly induced by the initial SSTA gradient is the main trigger of IODs occurring after ENSOs. In pIODs, SSTA evolution in the TIO is primarily determined by the local surface heat flux anomaly, while in nIODs, it is controlled by anomalous oceanic thermal advection. The anomalous southwestern anticyclonic circulation in pIODs enhances regional differences in evaporative capacity and latent heat, and in nIODs, it augments the east-west difference in the advective thermal budget. Further, the meridional anomaly mechanism is also non-negligible during the development of nIODs. As the SWA moves eastward, the meridional SWA prevails near 60°E and the corresponding meridional anomalous current appears. The corresponding maximum meridional thermal advection anomaly reaches 200 W m −2 in September.