TY - JOUR
T1 - Elevation dependent warming over the Tibetan Plateau: Patterns, mechanisms and perspectives
AU - You, Qinglong
AU - Chen, Deliang
AU - Wu, Fangying
AU - Pepin, Nick
AU - Cai, Ziyi
AU - Ahrens, Bodo
AU - Jiang, Zhihong
AU - Wu, Zhiwei
AU - Kang, Shichang
AU - Aghakouchak, Amir
PY - 2020/9/2
Y1 - 2020/9/2
N2 - The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is also known as the “Third Pole”. Elevation dependent warming (EDW), the phenomenon that warming rate changes systematically with elevation, is of high significance for realistically estimating warming rates and their impacts over the TP. This review summarizes studies of characteristics and mechanisms behind EDW over the TP based on multiple observed datasets and model simulations. Spatial expression of EDW and explanatory mechanisms are still largely unknown because of the lack of suitable data over the TP. The focus is on the roles played by known mechanisms such as snow/ice-albedo feedback, cloud feedback, atmospheric water vapor feedback, aerosol feedback, and changes in land use, ozone and vegetation. At present, there is limited consensus on the main mechanisms controlling EDW. Finally, new perspectives and unresolved issues are outlined, including quantification of EDW in climate model simulations, explanation of the long-term EDW reconstructed from proxies, interaction between the Asian summer monsoon and EDW, importance of EDW for future environmental changes and water resources, and current gaps in understanding EDW over extremely high elevations. Further progress requires a more comprehensive ground observation network, greater use of remote sensing data, and high-resolution climate modeling with better representation of both atmospheric and cryospheric processes.
AB - The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is also known as the “Third Pole”. Elevation dependent warming (EDW), the phenomenon that warming rate changes systematically with elevation, is of high significance for realistically estimating warming rates and their impacts over the TP. This review summarizes studies of characteristics and mechanisms behind EDW over the TP based on multiple observed datasets and model simulations. Spatial expression of EDW and explanatory mechanisms are still largely unknown because of the lack of suitable data over the TP. The focus is on the roles played by known mechanisms such as snow/ice-albedo feedback, cloud feedback, atmospheric water vapor feedback, aerosol feedback, and changes in land use, ozone and vegetation. At present, there is limited consensus on the main mechanisms controlling EDW. Finally, new perspectives and unresolved issues are outlined, including quantification of EDW in climate model simulations, explanation of the long-term EDW reconstructed from proxies, interaction between the Asian summer monsoon and EDW, importance of EDW for future environmental changes and water resources, and current gaps in understanding EDW over extremely high elevations. Further progress requires a more comprehensive ground observation network, greater use of remote sensing data, and high-resolution climate modeling with better representation of both atmospheric and cryospheric processes.
U2 - 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103349
DO - 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103349
M3 - Article
SN - 0012-8252
JO - Earth-Science Reviews
JF - Earth-Science Reviews
M1 - 103349
ER -