Decadal variability in the occurrence of wintertime haze in central eastern China tied to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

ABSTRACT: Haze is a serious issue in China with increasing concerns, and understanding the factors driving decadal-scale variations in haze occurrence is relevant for government policymaking. Using a comprehensive observational haze dataset, we demonstrate notable decadal fluctuations in the number of haze days (HD) during winter in central eastern China, showing a decline since the mid-1980s. The leading mode of the wintertime HD features an increasing trend for 1959-2012 in eastern China, highly correlated with China's gross domestic product (GDP) that represents increasing trend of pollutant emissions, and to a lesser extent meteorological factors. The second mode shows decadal variations in central eastern China associated with Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Observations and numerical simula

SUBMITTER: Zhao S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4901280 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature