Abstract
The year 2021 was recorded as the 6th warmest since 1880. In addition to large-scale warming, 2021 will be remembered for its unprecedented climate extremes. Here, a review of selected high-impact climate extremes in 2021, with a focus on China, along with an extension to extreme events in North America and Europe is presented. Nine extreme events that occurred in 2021 in China are highlighted, including a rapid transition from cold to warm extremes and sandstorms in spring, consecutive drought in South China and severe thunderstorms in eastern China in the first half of the year, extremely heavy rainfall over Henan Province and Hubei Province during summer, as well as heatwaves, persistent heavy rainfall, and a cold surge during fall. Potential links of extremes in China to four global-scale climate extremes and the underlying physical mechanisms are discussed here, providing insights to understand climate extremes from a global perspective. This serves as a reference for climate event attribution, process understanding, and high-resolution modeling of extreme events.
摘要
2021年将因其频发的极端天气气候事件而被气象学界所铭记. 本文对2021年影响中国地区的主要极端天气气候事件进行了总结和回顾, 并从全球视角讨论了与北美和欧洲地区的一些极端事件的联系. 文章以时间为序, 回顾了2021年影响中国地区的9大极端事件, 包括1月影响中东部的极端冷暖转换事件、 2月影响北方地区的极端冷暖转换事件、 3月影响华北地区的10年来最强沙尘暴、 华南地区冬春连旱、 春夏季节东部地区频发的强对流天气、 7月河南特大暴雨、 8月湖北暴雨、 9月南方持续性高温、 华北秋季持续性降水和11月强寒潮事件. 在此基础上, 文章探讨了部分极端事件与全球其它地区极端事件的潜在联系和机制. 本文也为极端气候事件归因、 物理过程理解和高分辨率数值模拟研究提供了典型个例选择上的参考.
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Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (Grant No. 2019QZKK0102) and the K. C. WONG Education Foundation. This work also contributes to the U.K.–China Research and Innovation Partnership Fund through the Met Office Climate Science for Service Partnership (CSSP) China as part of the Newton Fund.
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Zhou, T., Zhang, W., Zhang, L. et al. 2021: A Year of Unprecedented Climate Extremes in Eastern Asia, North America, and Europe. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 39, 1598–1607 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-022-2063-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-022-2063-9