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Model projections of precipitation minus evaporation in China

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Abstract

Changes in precipitation minus evaporation (P-E) are analyzed to investigate the possible impacts of climate change on water resource conditions in China. Simulations of SRES A1B and 20C3M scenarios from the WCRP CMIP3 GCMs are employed in the study. Time slice analysis shows that there would be more annual mean P-E across China in 2040–2055 and 2080–2099, compared to 1980–1999, with the largest percentage change over Northwest China and the Bohai Rim area. Precipitation and evaporation would also increase over entire China during these two periods. Annual mean P-E, precipitation, and evaporation averaged over the whole China and its eight sub-areas all yield generally upward trends during the 21st century. This indicates that on annual mean scale, the global warming related precipitation dominates the hydroclimate conditions in China. On seasonal mean scale, although precipitation is projected to increase over China, P-E exhibits both decreasing and increasing trends over certain regions of China. This suggests that the variation of global warming related evaporation dominates hydroclimate conditions over some parts of China, especially in northern China. Therefore, in hydroclimate condition projections, considering both evaporation and precipitation changes should be more reasonable than considering only precipitation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre (NZC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Ying Zhang  (张 颖) & Jianqi Sun  (孙建奇)

  2. Climate Change Research Center (CCRC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Ying Zhang  (张 颖) & Jianqi Sun  (孙建奇)

Authors
  1. Ying Zhang  (张 颖)
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  2. Jianqi Sun  (孙建奇)
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Correspondence to Ying Zhang  (张 颖).

Additional information

Supported by the National Science and Technology Support Program of China (2007BAC03A01), National Basic Research and Development (973) Program of China (2009CB421407 and 2012CB955401), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (40821092).

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Zhang, Y., Sun, J. Model projections of precipitation minus evaporation in China. Acta Meteorol Sin 26, 376–388 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-012-0309-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-012-0309-7

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