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Temperature and precipitation changes in China during the Holocene

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Abstract

We review here proxy records of temperature and precipitation in China during the Holocene, especially the last two millennia. The quality of proxy data, methodology of reconstruction, and uncertainties in reconstruction were emphasized in comparing different temperature and precipitation reconstruction and clarifying temporal and spatial patterns of temperature and precipitation during the Holocene. The Holocene climate was generally warm and wet. The warmest period occurred in 9.6–6.2 cal ka BP, whereas a period of maximum monsoon precipitation started at about 11.0 cal ka BP and lasted until about 8.0–5.0 cal ka BP. There were a series of millennial-scale cold or dry events superimposed on the general trend of climate changes. During past two millennia, a warming trend in the 20th century was clearly detected, but the warming magnitude was smaller than the maximum level of the Medieval Warm Period and the Middle Holocene. Cold conditions occurred over the whole of China during the Little Ice Age (AD 1400–AD 1900), but the warming of the Medieval Warm Period (AD 900–AD 1300) was not distinct in China, especially west China. The spatial pattern of precipitation showed significant regional differences in China, especially east China. The modern warm period has lasted 20 years from 1987 to 2006. Bi-decadal oscillation in precipitation variability was apparent over China during the 20th century. Solar activity and volcanic eruptions both were major forcings governing the climate variability during the last millennium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Ge Quansheng  (葛全胜) & Hao Zhixin  (郝志新)

  2. Department of Atmospheric Science, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Wang Shaowu  (王绍武) & Wen Xinyu  (闻新宇)

  3. Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Atbany, New York, 12203, USA

    Caiming Shen

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  1. Ge Quansheng  (葛全胜)
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  2. Wang Shaowu  (王绍武)
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  5. Hao Zhixin  (郝志新)
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Ge, Q., Wang, S., Wen, X. et al. Temperature and precipitation changes in China during the Holocene. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 24, 1024–1036 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-007-1024-7

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