Changes in Climatic Factors and Extreme Climate Events in Northeast China during 1961-2010

• Published in: Advances in climate change research 2013-06, Vol.4 (2), p.92-102
• Main Author: ZHAO Chun-Yu WANG Ying ZHOU Xiao-Yu CUI Yan LIU Yu-Lian SHI Da-Ming YU Hong-Min LIU Yu-Ying
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: climate change; climatic factors; extreme climate events; Northeast China; 东北; 中国; 年平均风速; 年降水量; 日照时数; 极端气候事件; 气候因素; 积雪深度
• ISSN: 1674-9278; 1674-9278
• DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1248.2013.092

This study focuses on examining the characteristics of climate factors and extreme climate events in Northeast China during 1961- 2010 by using daily data from 104 stations, including surface air temperature, precipitation, wind speed, sunshine duration, and snow depth. Results show that annual mean temperature increased at a significant rate of 0.35℃ per decade, most notably in the Lesser Khingan Mountains and in winter. Annual rainfall had no obvious linear trend, while rainy days had a significant decreasing trend. So, the rain intensity increased. High-temperature days had a weak increasing trend, and low-temperature days and cold wave showed significant decreasing trends with rates of 3.9 d per decade and -0.64 times per decade, respectively. Frequency and spatial scope of low-temperature hazard reduced significantly. Warm days and warm nights significantly increased at 1.0 and 2.4 d per decade, while cold days and cold nights decreased significantly at -1.8 and -4.1 d per decade, respectively. The nighttime warming rate was much higher than that for daytime, indicating that nighttime warming had a greater contribution to the overall warming trend than daytime warming. The annual mean wind speed, gale days, and sunshine duration had significant decreasing trends at rates of-0.21 m s-1 per decade, -4.0 d per decade and -43.3 h per decade, respectively. The snow cover onset dates postponed at a rate of 1.2 d per decade, and the snow cover end date advanced at 1.5 d per decade, which leads to shorter snow cover duration by -2.7 d per decade. Meanwhile, the maximum snow depth decreased at -0.52 cm per decade. In addition, the snow cover duration shows a higher correlation with precipitation than with temperature, which suggests that precipitation plays a more important role in maintaining snow cover duration than temperature.