With the intensification of global climate change, understanding historical climate patterns is crucial for predicting future trends in climate change.
In a study published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology,
a research team from the Institute of Earth Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) reconstructed the temperature change records of the past 250 years by analyzing the tree rings in the Qinling-Bashan Mountains (QBM). This study provides valuable historical data for researchers to understand the climate change in the QBM region, as well as in China and the Northern Hemisphere, and reveals the significant impact of North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature (NA-SST) on temperature changes in the region.
The QBM region, as an important geographical and climatic boundary in China, has high forest coverage and rich biodiversity, making it an ideal area for studying ancient climates. The research team utilized the tree-ring-width data of Pinus bungeana Zucc., a unique tree species in China, and established a high-quality tree-ring-width chronology through precise cross-dating, thereby reconstructing the temperature changes of QBM over the past 250 years.
This new temperature reconstruction not only matches the winter temperature reconstruction recorded in local historical literature to a certain extent, but also captures strong regional and hemispherical temperature signals.
The researchers found that the QBM region experienced the end of the Little Ice Age, and the warming since the 1970s is still within the framework of temperature changes over the past 250 years. Since the Industrial Era in 1850, the warming trend in the QBM region has been relatively mild compared to East Asia and the entire Northern Hemisphere. They also disclosed that NA-SST is the dominant factor controlling temperature changes in the region over the past 250 years. However, its impact was temporarily suppressed between 1900 and 1930 due to the interference from the Pacific Interdecadal Oscillation (PDO).
This study is essential for developing effective environmental management and adaptation strategies in the QBM region, reminding the researchers to consider not only the dominant role of NA-SST but also the regulatory effect of PDO when predicting future temperatures in the region.
This work was supported by grants from the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi, the Strategic Priority Research Program of CAS, and the Fund of Shandong Province.
