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www.clim-past-discuss.net/8/103/2012/
doi:10.5194/cpd-8-103-2012
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Winter temperature variations over middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the past three centuries
1Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
2Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York, 12203, USA
Abstract. We present statistically reconstructed annual winter (December–February) mean temperature in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River (24–34° N, east of 108° E) back to 1736. The reconstructions are based on information from snowfall days from Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun archive (one of historical documents proxies) in Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). Those information are calibrated with regional winter temperature series spanning the period 1951 to 2007 period. The gap from 1912 to 1950 is filled using early instrumental observation. With respect to the 1951–2007 climatology, the 18th century was 0.6 °C colder, and the 19th century was 1.0 °C colder. But since the 20th century, climate entered into the warming phase, particular in the last 30 yr, the mean temperature from 1981 to 2007 is 0.25 °C higher than that of climatology, a highest level of the past 300 yr. The uncertainty is existed for the period prior of 1900, and possible causes have been discussed here.
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Citation: Hao, Z.-X., Zheng, J.-Y., Ge, Q.-S., and Wang, W.-C.: Winter temperature variations over middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the past three centuries, Clim. Past Discuss., 8, 103-119, doi:10.5194/cpd-8-103-2012, 2012. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
