Seasonal spatial heterogeneity of warming rates on the Tibetan Plateau over the past 30 years.

ABSTRACT: Based on temperature data from 79 meteorological stations, we estimate the warming rate by season on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during 1984-2013. The warming rate was spatially heterogeneous across seasons over the past 30 years. The northern TP (NTP) experienced more warming than the southern TP (STP) (divided near 33 °N) in all seasons. The greatest north-south difference in warming was 0.70 ± 0.11 °C for summer (June-August), while the smallest difference was 0.27 ± 0.14 °C for the cold season (November-April). Such seasonal and spatial heterogeneity in the warming rate is consistent with the seasonal precipitation patterns of the NTP and the STP. One possible cause for this phenomenon is that more precipitation occurs in the STP than in the NTP (especially for summer), accompanied by mor

SUBMITTER: Duan J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4481825 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature