Impacts of the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean Warm Pools on Wildfires in Yunnan, Southwest China: Spatial Patterns With Interannual and Intraannual Variations

• Published in: Geophysical research letters 2022-06, Vol.49 (11), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Ying, Lingxiao, Shen, Zehao, Guan, Pingao, Cao, Jie, Luo, Caifang, Peng, Xingzi, Cheng, Hujiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climatic conditions; Dynamics; Indo‐Pacific warm pool; Monsoons; Mountains; Oceans; Pools; Records; Teleconnections; Variation; wildfire; Wildfires; Yunnan in Southwest China
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2022GL098797

The Indo‐Pacific warm pool affects the regional climatic conditions in Southeast Asia mediated by the Western Pacific (WP) and Indian Ocean (IO) monsoons, which are recognized as critical regulators of wildfires in this region. Our study explored the spatiotemporal effects of the warm pools on wildfire records in Yunnan, Southwest China. We showed the interannual records had a negative relationship with the simultaneous WP warm pool area index. The Ailao Mountains in the central Yunnan could be a geographical barrier that blocked the influences of the WP warm pool from the east side. For the intraannual changes, the wildfire number variations had a stronger connection to the IO warm pool dynamics than the WP. Our study provided the novel evidence on the teleconnection between the Indo‐Pacific warm pool dynamics and regional environmental processes in Yunnan, also indicating this area as a part of the transitional zone between the two warm pools. Plain Language Summary The ocean warm pool is widely considered important to the regional climatic and environmental events. As the largest and most active warm pool, the Indo‐Pacific warm pool affects the climatic conditions in Southeast Asia mediated by the Western Pacific (WP) and Indian Ocean (IO) monsoons. However, in Southeast Asia, a global wildfire hotspot, the response of regional wildfire number to the warm pools has received limited attention yet, although the warm pools and monsoon dynamics are recognized as a critical regulator of wildfires in this region. We explored the warm pool effects on wildfire number in Yunnan, Southwest China. Our results showed the interannual dynamics of the wildfire number had a negative relationship with the simultaneous WP warm pool changes. The Ailao Mountains in central Yunnan could be a geographical barrier that blocked the influences of the WP warm pool from the east side. For the intraannual dynamics, the wildfire record variations had a stronger connection to the IO warm pool dynamics than the WP. This study provided the novel evidences on the teleconnection of the Indo‐Pacific warm pool with the wildfire number in Yunnan, and also implied the regional effects of warm pool on those areas with climatic‐driven environmental processes. Key Points The interannual change of wildfire number in Yunnan has a negative relationship with the simultaneous Western Pacific warm pool dynamics The intraannual wildfire variation in Yunnan connects more closely with the Indian Ocean