Synergistic effects of Arctic amplification and Tibetan Plateau amplification on the Yangtze River Basin heatwaves

• Published in: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
• Main Authors: Wei Dong, XiaoJing Jia, XiuMing Li, Renguang Wu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Portfolio 2024
• Subjects: Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Climate change
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-024-00703-4; https://doaj.org/article/6a4ca07cbab7497bb7846f7aa0c5e1e4

Abstract Extreme heatwaves pose a significant threat to a wide range of environmental, ecological, and social systems. The rapid warming of the Arctic and the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which are the most prominent features in the Northern Hemisphere in the context of climate change, has significantly influenced mid-latitude extreme events in recent decades. This study utilizes observational data and numerical simulations to demonstrate that the variations in Arctic amplification (AA) and TP amplification (TA) play a crucial role in the interannual variability of summer heatwaves (HWs) in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) (HWs_YRB) region. The HWs_YRB is associated with a zonally oriented barotropic high-pressure system anchored over the YRB region. The spatial distribution and intensity of the HWs_YRB are impacted by the synergistic effects of AA and TA, via a meridional atmospheric tripole pattern and double jets over East Asia. Furthermore, AA primarily impacts the geographical extent of the HWs_YRB, while TA plays a critical role in determining the intensity of the HWs_YRB. Our findings provide an innovative perspective on the linkage between the pronounced warming observed in the Arctic and TP and the occurrence of summer HWs_YRB, enhancing our comprehension of the climatic consequences of the rapid changes in these two geographical regions.