Warming Tropical Indian Ocean Wets the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract Accurate detection and attribution of past climate change are crucial for projecting future climate change and formulating proper policies. In this study, we show that the warming of the tropical Indian Ocean contributes to the observed wetting trend in the Tibetan plateau. The warming trop...

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Main Authors: Aoqi Zhou, Chaoxia Yuan, Jing‐Jia Luo, Toshio Yamagata
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-07-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108989
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author Aoqi Zhou
Chaoxia Yuan
Jing‐Jia Luo
Toshio Yamagata
author_facet Aoqi Zhou
Chaoxia Yuan
Jing‐Jia Luo
Toshio Yamagata
author_sort Aoqi Zhou
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Accurate detection and attribution of past climate change are crucial for projecting future climate change and formulating proper policies. In this study, we show that the warming of the tropical Indian Ocean contributes to the observed wetting trend in the Tibetan plateau. The warming tropical Indian Ocean can lead to more precipitation around the Arabian Sea. The associated diabatic heating triggers the cyclonic atmospheric response in the lower troposphere over the Arabian Sea and eastern Africa. It also causes the enhancement and westward extension of the western North Pacific subtropical high. The in‐between airflow transports more moisture northward to the plateau, leading to the increased precipitation over the plateau. These large‐scale circulation patterns can be detected from the long‐term trends based on the observations and the large‐ensemble historical simulations. They can also be simulated by an atmospheric general circulation model forced by the observed warming merely in the tropical Indian Ocean.
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institution DOAJ
issn 0094-8276
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language English
publishDate 2024-07-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-0ca2173d6dd74a42be26a1d285c2ec542025-08-20T02:46:05ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072024-07-015113n/an/a10.1029/2024GL108989Warming Tropical Indian Ocean Wets the Tibetan PlateauAoqi Zhou0Chaoxia Yuan1Jing‐Jia Luo2Toshio Yamagata3Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster of Ministry of Education Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters Institute for Climate and Application Research (ICAR) Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology Nanjing ChinaKey Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster of Ministry of Education Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters Institute for Climate and Application Research (ICAR) Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology Nanjing ChinaKey Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster of Ministry of Education Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters Institute for Climate and Application Research (ICAR) Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology Nanjing ChinaApplication Laboratory Japan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology Yokohama JapanAbstract Accurate detection and attribution of past climate change are crucial for projecting future climate change and formulating proper policies. In this study, we show that the warming of the tropical Indian Ocean contributes to the observed wetting trend in the Tibetan plateau. The warming tropical Indian Ocean can lead to more precipitation around the Arabian Sea. The associated diabatic heating triggers the cyclonic atmospheric response in the lower troposphere over the Arabian Sea and eastern Africa. It also causes the enhancement and westward extension of the western North Pacific subtropical high. The in‐between airflow transports more moisture northward to the plateau, leading to the increased precipitation over the plateau. These large‐scale circulation patterns can be detected from the long‐term trends based on the observations and the large‐ensemble historical simulations. They can also be simulated by an atmospheric general circulation model forced by the observed warming merely in the tropical Indian Ocean.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108989Tibetan plateauincreased precipitationair‐sea interactionIndian Ocean warming
spellingShingle Aoqi Zhou
Chaoxia Yuan
Jing‐Jia Luo
Toshio Yamagata
Warming Tropical Indian Ocean Wets the Tibetan Plateau
Geophysical Research Letters
Tibetan plateau
increased precipitation
air‐sea interaction
Indian Ocean warming
title Warming Tropical Indian Ocean Wets the Tibetan Plateau
title_full Warming Tropical Indian Ocean Wets the Tibetan Plateau
title_fullStr Warming Tropical Indian Ocean Wets the Tibetan Plateau
title_full_unstemmed Warming Tropical Indian Ocean Wets the Tibetan Plateau
title_short Warming Tropical Indian Ocean Wets the Tibetan Plateau
title_sort warming tropical indian ocean wets the tibetan plateau
topic Tibetan plateau
increased precipitation
air‐sea interaction
Indian Ocean warming
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108989
work_keys_str_mv AT aoqizhou warmingtropicalindianoceanwetsthetibetanplateau
AT chaoxiayuan warmingtropicalindianoceanwetsthetibetanplateau
AT jingjialuo warmingtropicalindianoceanwetsthetibetanplateau
AT toshioyamagata warmingtropicalindianoceanwetsthetibetanplateau