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In this paper, correlation between modern leaf physiognomy and climate in China are examined, to optimize the use of leaf characters as a palaeoclimate proxy. A large dataset was compiled, recording the distribution of leaf physiognomic characters among 3166 native dicot trees species across 732 calibration grids on a county level. Grids span a range of ecological environments (tropical rainforests to alpine shrubs) across humid areas. Thirteen climatic parameters were included for each grid and 22 leaf physiognomic characters were scored for each tree species. The correlation between leaf physiognomic characters and climatic parameters were calculated based on single linear regressions (SLR) and multiple linear regressions (MLR). Results indicate clear spatial distribution patterns, linked to latitude, exist for all leaf characters, with temperature (Coldest Month Mean Temperature, CMMT) and precipitation (Growing Season Precipitation, GSP) being the main climate controls. Moreover, because leaf characters are more closely correlated with Precipitation during the Three Wettest Consecutive Months (P3WET), rather than with Precipitation during the Three Driest Consecutive Months (P3DRY), seasonal variations in rainfall associated with the Asian Monsoon might especially influence leaf physiognomic characters. Closer correlations between leaf physiognomy and climate are seen using MLR compared with SLR; therefore Mean Annual Temperature (MAT) and Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP) based on MLR equations provide the most promising basis for palaeoclimate reconstructions in China. • Spatial distribution of 21 leaf physiognomic characters in China is established. • Relationships between leaf physiognomic characters and climatic parameters are established. • The seasonal variations in rainfall under the Asian monsoon climate shapes leaf physiognomic characters. • Paleoclimate can be reconstructed based on such large-scale modern dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abrupt weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) during Younger Dryas (YD) has been attributed to freshwater discharge into the North Atlantic ocean and resultant Northern Hemisphere cooling. Recent studies have found that sea ice variability in the Nordic Sea during the YD exerted a great influence upon the northern high-latitude climate. However, the influence of sea ice upon EASM evolution during YD event remains unclear. In this paper, we report two precisely-dated speleothem oxygen isotope records from the EASM-dominated region of central China. Our records archive abrupt changes in EASM variability during the YD event. Initially, there was a significant strengthening of the EASM during the mid-YD following the gradually increased Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Later this trend reversed at ∼12.15 ka due to northern high-latitude sea ice fluctuations and a consequent reduction of AMOC. At the YD termination, abrupt intensification of the EASM was synchronous with the rapid decline of sea-ice and recovery of the AMOC indicating that sea ice variability was a significant influence on high latitude climate and EASM variation during the YD. • A new speleothem δ18O record show significant EASM strengthening during mid-YD. • Mid-YD oscillation in EASM linked with NH sea ice variability. • Abrupt EASM intensification at YD termination synchronous with the rapid decline of sea ice. • Drier interval following the YD termination in central China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the country with the most population in the world, and its climate is extremely diverse due to tremendous differences in latitude, longitude, and altitude, ranging from tropical in the far south to subarctic in the far north and alpine in the higher elevations of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Accurate assessment of its modern climate change is conductive to addressing global warming threat. Along with the development of Past Global Changes (PAGES) research, the focus has changed from paleo-climate reconstructions to using paleo-data for assessing the present and predicting the future. Previous studies have been devoted to climate change assessment using modern climate observations and simulations. This paper presents a new assessment approach based on the mid-Holocene, which provides a naturally oriented warming that can be compared to modern human-made global warming. A variety of climatic data, including modern observations, paleo-climate records, CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) and PMIP3 (Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project 3) simulations, as well as lake level models, were applied in this synthesis. Numerical climate classification was introduced to evaluate climate change impacts to Chinese climate zones on various time scales. The results show that winter and summer seasons have different response to the naturally oriented mid-Holocene warming but human-made global warming makes the warming trend appear in all seasons. Temperate and continental dry winter climates expand dramatically during the mid-Holocene warm period; however, the future global warming could have few impacts to Chinese climate zones. Furthermore, the East Asian summer monsoon was strengthened obviously by the mid-Holocene warm climate and strong low-latitude insolation. There is no consistent trend both for the winter and summer monsoon on the background of human-made global warming. In this study, a new benchmark was established based on paleo-climate to evaluate the impacts of human-made global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive and integrative view of East Asian monsoon evolution during the Holocene is still under debate, and additional high-resolution proxy records from climatically sensitive locations are requisite to solve this complex issue. In this paper, we present three well-dated mud/peat cores from a paleo-pingo depression in the Sanjiang Plain, a climatically sensitive region to monsoon variation, to reveal the paleoenvironmental history of the wetland and discuss the regional impacts from monsoon evolution. A paleolake developed in the study area before 5.5 ka BP, and a peatland initiated thereafter consequent upon the gradual shrinking of the paleolake. This transition lasted until 4.5 ka BP, when the paleolake changed entirely to a wetland. Considering the prevalent monsoon climate in the Sanjiang Plain, we suggest that the lake-to-wetland transition from 5.5 to 4.5 ka BP indicates a rapid decline of the East Asian summer monsoon in addition to autogenic basin infilling processes. Such a remarkable monsoon weakening event has been documented across northern China, and we associate this with ocean–atmosphere interactions throughout low-latitude regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews progress in the study of Tibetan Plateau (TP) climate dynamics over the past decade. Several theoretical frameworks, including thermal adaptation and the TP sensible heat (SH) driving air-pump, have been developed to identify the mechanisms responsible for the circulation anomaly produced by thermal forcing of the TP. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the thermal effects of large-scale orography, including the Tibetan and Iranian Plateaus (TIP), are crucial for the formation of the East Asian and South Asian summer monsoons (SASM) because the surface SH of the TIP is the major driver of the water vapor transport required for the genesis of the north branch of the SASM.The large-scale orography of the TP affects the Asian climate through thermal forcing in spring and summer, and mechanical forcing in winter. The TP forcing can also influence the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) onset over the Bay of Bengal (BOB) by enhancing the BOB warm pool at the surface and by modulating the South Asian High (SAH) in the upper troposphere. On intra-seasonal timescales, the TP thermal forcing significantly modulates spring rainfall in southern China and generates the biweekly oscillation of the SAH in summer. Despite climate warming, the atmospheric heat source over the TP, particularly the spring SH, exhibits a clear weakening trend from the 1980s to 2000s. This weakening of the spring SH contributed to the anomalous 'dry in the north' and 'wet in the south' rainfall pattern observed over East China. Also discussed are challenges to further understanding the mechanism of TP forcing on the multi-scale variability of the ASM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we present the first annual oxygen isotope (δ18O) record (1902 to 2004) from the latewood cellulose of trees growing in a temperate-moist forest in southwestern China. Tree-ring δ18O ranges from 12.8 to 18.6‰ and averages 15.2‰. δ18O in the latewood negatively correlates with total cloud cover, relative humidity, and precipitation during the moist months (August to October) from 1951 to 2004 and, to a lesser extent, positively correlates with the temperature in June. Spatial correlation analysis revealed that tree-ring latewood δ18O is more strongly related to variability in regional cloud cover and precipitation in autumn. Tree-ring δ18O negatively correlates with the indices of the Indian summer monsoon (1948 to 2004), the western North Pacific monsoon (1948 to 2004), and with the East Asian summer monsoon (1902 to 2000), suggesting that these monsoons strongly influence the regional climate. Under global warming of last century, we found a strong inverse correlation between tree-ring δ18O and the Southern Oscillation index in different periods, indicating a complex association between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the regional climate, which in turn affects tree-ring δ18O. Correlation with the global sea surface temperature (SST) indicates that climatic conditions in the Indian Ocean might play a dominant role in modulating cloud cover and precipitation over the study region during the monsoon seasons. We also found a significant correlation between tree-ring δ18O and SST over the western-north Pacific Ocean. Our results suggest strong links between tropical oceans and an ENSO-like climate with the oxygen-isotope sources and discrimination for trees in the study region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Oligocene marked the beginning of the present 'icehouse' epoch and witnessed the development and evolution of the Asian monsoon system (AMS). In this paper, the early Oligocene Ningming flora of Guangxi, southern China, is analysed to investigate the AMS based on climate proxies derived from Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP). CLAMP results suggest that the prevailing climate experienced by the Ningming flora was humid subtropical with hot summers and warm winters. Although the record of precipitation seasonality is muted, it is about half as strong as that seen today in monsoon climates of South China, indicating a very weak monsoonal signal. Despite suggesting weak rainfall seasonality, the position of the Ningming flora in physiognomic space indicates that leaves exhibit monsoon-adapted morphologies, comparable to today's vegetation exposed to the Indonesia–Australia monsoon (I-AM) and the transitional monsoon area (influenced by the East Asia monsoon, South Asia monsoon and I-AM). Leaf architectural signatures reveal that the Ningming flora grew under a humid subtropical climate with subtle monsoon signatures. Although it is difficult to distinguish the different domains of the Asian monsoon under such a subtle monsoon influence, based on leaf signatures from southern Asia, it can be inferred that the Ningming Basin during the early Oligocene was exposed to a climate regime similar to that today influenced by the I-AM. In addition, the moist enthalpy method was applied to quantitatively reconstruct the paleoelevation of the Ningming Basin. This approach suggests a paleoelevation estimate of ~1.24–1.35 ± 0.52 km for the early Oligocene, suggesting that a drop in paleoelevation of the Ningming Basin took place after the early Oligocene (Rupelian). The CLAMP results suggest that the early Oligocene Ningming area was at a mid-altitude and experienced a humid subtropical climate with subtle monsoon signatures. • Leaves from the early Oligocene Ningming Basin were subjected to a CLAMP analysis. • The prevailing paleoclimate was humid subtropical with hot summers and warm winters. • Leaf physiognomic spectra shows an adaptation to monsoon climates. • The paleoclimate is similar to a climate regime today influenced by the I-AM. • The early Oligocene Ningming Basin was likely at a height of ~ 1.24–1.35 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]