Has Arctic sea ice loss affected summer precipitation in North China?

Abstract

AbstractArctic sea ice loss is one of the most striking features in changing of the climate system and affects weather and climate in the midlatitudes through complex interactions and feedback processes. However, it is not clear whether Arctic sea ice loss has affected summer precipitation in East Asia. This study shows that summer regional precipitation in North China exhibits obvious features of phasic variations. Before 1998, positive and negative precipitation anomalies appeared alternately. While from 1999 to 2011, negative precipitation anomalies were dominant. Since 2012, increased summer precipitation has been observed frequently. A direct cause of increases of summer precipitation in North China is an enhancement of water vapour transport from South China and China's marginal seas, which can be attributed to the strengthening and northward shifting of the northwestern Pacific subtropical high and the spatial configuration with west low–east high and north low–south high in East Asian height fields. Although summer atmospheric circulation anomalies in high latitudes are dominant during the sea ice melting phase, their contributions to summer precipitation variations in North China are little. Simulation experiments show that Arctic sea ice loss can significantly affect the atmospheric circulation in high latitudes; however, it cannot be regarded as a major cause of observed recent increases in precipitation in North China. Additionally, Arctic sea ice loss has little impact on summer precipitation in the Yangtze River valley and South China.