Northern Hemisphere Land Monsoon Precipitation Increased by the Green Sahara During Middle Holocene

Abstract Changes in land cover and dust emission may significantly influence the Northern Hemisphere land monsoon precipitation (NHLMP), but observations are too short to fully evaluate their impacts. The “Green Sahara” during the mid‐Holocene (6,000 years BP) provides an opportunity to unravel thes...

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Main Authors: Weiyi Sun, Bin Wang, Qiong Zhang, Francesco S. R. Pausata, Deliang Chen, Guonian Lu, Mi Yan, Liang Ning, Jian Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-08-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082116
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author Weiyi Sun
Bin Wang
Qiong Zhang
Francesco S. R. Pausata
Deliang Chen
Guonian Lu
Mi Yan
Liang Ning
Jian Liu
author_facet Weiyi Sun
Bin Wang
Qiong Zhang
Francesco S. R. Pausata
Deliang Chen
Guonian Lu
Mi Yan
Liang Ning
Jian Liu
author_sort Weiyi Sun
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Changes in land cover and dust emission may significantly influence the Northern Hemisphere land monsoon precipitation (NHLMP), but observations are too short to fully evaluate their impacts. The “Green Sahara” during the mid‐Holocene (6,000 years BP) provides an opportunity to unravel these mechanisms. Here we show that during the mid‐Holocene, most of the NHLMP changes revealed by proxy data are reproduced by the Earth System model results when the Saharan vegetation cover and dust reduction are taken into consideration. The simulated NHLMP significantly increases by 33.10% under the effect of the Green Sahara. The North African monsoon precipitation increases most significantly. Additionally, the Saharan vegetation (dust reduction under vegetated Sahara) alone remotely intensifies the Asian (North American) monsoon precipitation through large‐scale atmospheric circulation changes. These findings imply that future variations in land cover and dust emissions may appreciably influence the NHLMP.
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institution OA Journals
issn 0094-8276
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language English
publishDate 2019-08-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-52d67e7584fa4e3baa46f7056ffef56c2025-08-20T02:12:20ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072019-08-0146169870987910.1029/2019GL082116Northern Hemisphere Land Monsoon Precipitation Increased by the Green Sahara During Middle HoloceneWeiyi Sun0Bin Wang1Qiong Zhang2Francesco S. R. Pausata3Deliang Chen4Guonian Lu5Mi Yan6Liang Ning7Jian Liu8Key Laboratory for Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Geographical Environment Evolution of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, School of Geography Science Nanjing Normal University Nanjing ChinaDepartment of Atmospheric Sciences and Atmosphere‐Ocean Research Center University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Honolulu HI USADepartment of Physical Geography and Bolin Centre for Climate Research Stockholm University Stockholm SwedenCentre ESCER (Étude et la Simulation du Climat à l’Échelle Régionale) and GEOTOP (Research Center on the dynamics of the Earth System), Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Quebec in Montreal Montreal CanadaRegional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences University of Gothenburg Gothenburg SwedenKey Laboratory for Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Geographical Environment Evolution of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, School of Geography Science Nanjing Normal University Nanjing ChinaKey Laboratory for Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Geographical Environment Evolution of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, School of Geography Science Nanjing Normal University Nanjing ChinaKey Laboratory for Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Geographical Environment Evolution of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, School of Geography Science Nanjing Normal University Nanjing ChinaKey Laboratory for Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Geographical Environment Evolution of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, School of Geography Science Nanjing Normal University Nanjing ChinaAbstract Changes in land cover and dust emission may significantly influence the Northern Hemisphere land monsoon precipitation (NHLMP), but observations are too short to fully evaluate their impacts. The “Green Sahara” during the mid‐Holocene (6,000 years BP) provides an opportunity to unravel these mechanisms. Here we show that during the mid‐Holocene, most of the NHLMP changes revealed by proxy data are reproduced by the Earth System model results when the Saharan vegetation cover and dust reduction are taken into consideration. The simulated NHLMP significantly increases by 33.10% under the effect of the Green Sahara. The North African monsoon precipitation increases most significantly. Additionally, the Saharan vegetation (dust reduction under vegetated Sahara) alone remotely intensifies the Asian (North American) monsoon precipitation through large‐scale atmospheric circulation changes. These findings imply that future variations in land cover and dust emissions may appreciably influence the NHLMP.https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082116Northern Hemisphere land monsoon precipitationmid‐HoloceneSaharan vegetationdust reductionEarth System model
spellingShingle Weiyi Sun
Bin Wang
Qiong Zhang
Francesco S. R. Pausata
Deliang Chen
Guonian Lu
Mi Yan
Liang Ning
Jian Liu
Northern Hemisphere Land Monsoon Precipitation Increased by the Green Sahara During Middle Holocene
Geophysical Research Letters
Northern Hemisphere land monsoon precipitation
mid‐Holocene
Saharan vegetation
dust reduction
Earth System model
title Northern Hemisphere Land Monsoon Precipitation Increased by the Green Sahara During Middle Holocene
title_full Northern Hemisphere Land Monsoon Precipitation Increased by the Green Sahara During Middle Holocene
title_fullStr Northern Hemisphere Land Monsoon Precipitation Increased by the Green Sahara During Middle Holocene
title_full_unstemmed Northern Hemisphere Land Monsoon Precipitation Increased by the Green Sahara During Middle Holocene
title_short Northern Hemisphere Land Monsoon Precipitation Increased by the Green Sahara During Middle Holocene
title_sort northern hemisphere land monsoon precipitation increased by the green sahara during middle holocene
topic Northern Hemisphere land monsoon precipitation
mid‐Holocene
Saharan vegetation
dust reduction
Earth System model
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082116
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