Physical mechanism of spring and early summer drought over North America associated with the boreal warming.

ABSTRACT: Drought during the early vegetation growing season (spring through early summer) is a severe natural hazard in the large cropland over North America. Given the recent increasing severity of climate change manifested as surface warming, there has been a growing interest in how warming affects drought and the prospect of drought. Here we show the impact of boreal warming on the spring and early summer drought over North America using Cyclostationary Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis. Northern Hemispheric warming, the leading mode of the surface air temperature variability, has led to a decrease in precipitation, evaporation and moisture transport over the central plain of North America. From a quantitative assessment of atmospheric water budget, precipitation has decreased more than eva

SUBMITTER: Choi W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5951915 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature