Regional disparities in warm season rainfall changes over arid eastern-central Asia.

ABSTRACT: Multiple studies have reported a shift in the trend of warm season rainfall over arid eastern-central Asia (AECA) around the turn of the new century, from increasing over the second half of the twentieth century to decreasing during the early years of the twenty-first. Here, a closer look based on multiple precipitation datasets reveals important regional disparities in these changes. Warm-season rainfall increased over both basin areas and mountain ranges during 1961-1998 due to enhanced moisture flux convergence associated with changes in the large-scale circulation and increases in atmospheric moisture content. Despite a significant decrease in warm-season precipitation over the high mountain ranges after the year 1998, warm season rainfall has remained large over low-lying basin areas.

SUBMITTER: Dong W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6115426 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature