Anthropogenic influence on altitudinally amplified temperature change in the Tibetan Plateau
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15544767 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ying Sun (0009-0008-7911-9034, China Meteorological Administration, corresponding author), Ting Hu (0000-0003-3770-6309, China Meteorological Administration), Xuebin Zhang (0000-0002-9012-8491, University of Victoria) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 054012-054012 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ad3bd3 |
| OpenAlex | W4394582192 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 30 |
As the highest plateau on the Earth, the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has experienced rapid warming in the last decades, affecting natural ecosystem and water resources extending far beyond the plateau itself. A distinctive characteristic known as elevation-dependent warming (EDW) in the high mountain regions was particularly pronounced in the TP, whereby the magnitude of temperature warming was amplified with increasing altitudes. Different mechanisms have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, however, the link between the root cause of warming, human activities, and the EDW remains poorly understood. Here we used the homogenized observation and simulations by the newest climate models to discern human influence on both mean and extreme temperatures within the region. An optimal fingerprinting method was applied in a vertical space rather than in traditional horizontal space. We found that the long-term trends in mean and extreme temperature amplified with increasing elevation, with larger magnitude of trends at higher elevations. The response to external forcing, primarily driven by human activities, was robustly detected in altitudinal amplification of temperature increase, providing clear evidence of human causes of EDW. As warming increases, the EDW in the region will continue, with more pronounced EDW corresponding to larger magnitude of warming under a high emission scenario. These findings mark the first evidence of human influence on temperature across different vertical altitudes of climate system
Atmospheric sciences · Climate change · Climatology · Geography · Physical geography · Plateau (mathematics · Climate change and permafrost · Cryospheric studies and observations · Environmental Science · Remote Sensing and Land Use · Geology · Oceanography
Overview of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) experimental design and organization
Changes in temperature extremes on the Tibetan Plateau and their attribution
Anthropogenic warming of Tibetan Plateau and constrained future projection
Amplified warming projections for high altitude regions of the northern hemisphere mid-latitudes from CMIP5 models
Indices for monitoring changes in extremes based on daily temperature and precipitation data
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |