Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

The surface air temperature change over the Tibetan Plateau is determined based on historical observations from 1980 to 2013. In contrast to the cooling trend in the rest of China, and the global warming hiatus post-1990s, an accelerated warming trend has appeared over the Tibetan Plateau during 1998â�?�?2013 (0.25 �?°C decadeâ�?�?1), compared to that of 1980â�?�?1997 (0.21 �?°C decadeâ�?�?1). Further results indicate that, to some degree, such an accelerated warming trend might be attributable to cloudâ�?�?radiation feedback. The increased nocturnal cloud over the northern Tibetan Plateau would warm the nighttime temperature via enhanced atmospheric back-radiation, while the decreased daytime cloud over the southern Tibetan Plateau would induce the daytime sunshine duration to increase, resulting in surface air temperature warming. Meanwhile, the in situ surface wind speed has recovered gradually since 1998, and thus the energy concentration cannot explain the accelerated warming trend over the Tibetan Plateau after the 1990s. It is suggested that cloudâ�?�?radiation feedback may play an important role in modulating the recent accelerated warming trend over the Tibetan Plateau.

Biography

Email: amduan@lasg.iap.ac.cn