A review of weather patterns in Inner East Asia over the past 200 years suggests that the region is currently caught in a dangerous cycle of heatwaves and droughts that could permanently reshape the region., And probably turn the Mongolian plates into arid wasteland.
New Research Science is painting a worrying picture of the current climate situation in Inner East Asia, published today. Current heatwaves and droughts in the region occur more often than they did 20 years ago, but a new study says the region’s current weather conditions are unprecedented in the last 260 years. The authors of the new paper came to this conclusion after analyzing tree-rings, documenting droughts and heatwaves in the mid-18th century.
This is bad because the region will become more vulnerable to extremes of hot and dry weather. The Mongolian plateau is currently a semi-arid region, but it may not remain that way. This is the kind of climate that is being predicted, in which the region will have to suffer despite more heatwave and drought, the study said, adding that the region could become as dry and desolate as parts of the US Southwest.
By analyzing tree-rings made from Mongolian plateau, the researchers were able to tell when heatwave and drought occurred in the past, and when the soil was moist. The results show that current temperatures in Inner East Asia are unprecedented in a 260-year record.
“Coniferous trees respond sharply to unusual temperatures,” Linderholm said. Hans Linderholm, co-author of the study and climatologist, said, “By examining their growth rings, we can see their response to recent heatwaves, and we can see that they have not experienced anything like this in their long lives.” Explained in a statement prepared by Gothenburg University, Utah State University.
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The current problem is with excessive soil drying. Well, technically the problem is with anthropogenic climate change, but you know what I mean.
The evaporation produced by the wet soil immediately cools the surface air. Without moisture, however, heat is transferred directly into the air about the ground. This creates a negative feedback loop: as the soil dries out the higher temperatures rise, but as the soil dries out this leads to more heat. Deliang Chen, a co-author and researcher at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said “we can’t say where this ends.”
Hyungjun Kim, a co-author and climate scientist at the University of Tokyo, said the process could start a “reversible reaction loop” that could propel the sector “toward a hotter and drier future.”
Eventually this could lead to an irreversible tipping point that would move the region into a state of aridity. And in fact, we may have already passed this tipping point, as “the region’s semi-arid climate has entered a new regime in which soil moisture will no longer reduce inconsistently high air temperatures,” the authors wrote in the study.
There are other warning signs to stay awake. Chinese research suggests that lakes in the Mongolian plateau are shrinking in size. In the last six years, scientists have noticed a 26% decrease in the number of lakes larger than 0.4 square miles (1 square kilometer). But as new research shows, it’s not just lakes that are losing water – even soil. The changing landscape will wreak havoc on local ecosystems, including large herbivores such as wild sheep, antelope and lsnt.
“It’s a common belief that climate change is changing,” said Daniel Griffin, a Minnesota scientist at New University. ” Yet, what worries me is the thought of future extreme events: how serious can it be? And if the ‘New Normal’ is too hot and dry according to historical norms, the subsequent future climax may be the opposite of anything previously seen. “
Importantly, weather conditions in Southeast Asia can affect weather elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, as weather in this part of the world is linked to global atmospheric circulation, the press release said. Indeed, climate change knows little boundaries, and its reach is long. Unfortunately, the Tibetan plateau is not immune to its majestic snow-capped mountains and scattered meadows.
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