Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Hyacinth C. Nnamchi, Victor N. Dike, Akintomide A. Akinsanola, Ugochukwu K. Okoro
Summary: Analysis of precipitation patterns over West Africa from July to September during the satellite era from 1983 to 2017 revealed two dominant modes, with the Sahel mode showing increasing precipitation and the Guinea Coast mode displaying robust but not statistically significant trends. The Sahel mode is associated with a northerly displacement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and warm Atlantic Ocean conditions, while the Guinea Coast mode is linked to strong interannual variability and interactions between meridional and zonal atmospheric circulations.
ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Quan Quan, Weijia Liang, Denghua Yan, Jingchun Lei
Summary: This study analyzed the driving factors of the atmospheric hydrological cycle in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region using a geographical detector, revealing the mutual feedback mechanisms between the nature-society coupling system and the atmospheric hydrological cycle. The results demonstrate that Inner Mongolia's atmospheric water resources have high spatial differences and the precipitation conversion efficiency is largely influenced by the natural system.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yongfang Xu, Zhaohui Lin, Chenglai Wu
Summary: Central Asia is prone to wildfires with more than 90% of the burned area located in Kazakhstan. The peak BA occurs from June to September, showing remarkable interannual variation in western central Kazakhstan. The study reveals a negative correlation between BA and precipitation, soil moisture, and relative humidity, while a positive correlation with the frequency of hot days during the burning season.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yujin Zeng, P. C. D. Milly, Elena Shevliakova, Sergey Malyshev, M. H. J. van Huijgevoort, K. A. Dunne
Summary: This study suggests that irrigation in the Middle East and South Asia may have a significant impact on rainfall in the Sahel-Sudan Savanna region, potentially counteracting the suppression effect of other anthropogenic climate drivers. The mechanism behind this impact is the reduction in the meridional gradient of moist static energy from the Sahara Desert to the tropical rainforests. The findings highlight the potential role of remote irrigation in affecting drought and famine risk and future water security in the SSS region.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Exavery Kisesa Makula, Botao Zhou
Summary: This study investigates the negative correlation between Antarctic sea ice concentration (SIC) and precipitation variability in Tanzania during the MAM season from 1978 to 2017. The high (low) SIC over the Weddell (Ross) sea is associated with suppressed (enhanced) rainfall in northern (southern) Tanzania. The positive SIC anomalies result in upper-level wave train patterns propagating from high latitudes to low latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere, causing anomalous cyclonic circulation over the western Indian Ocean and Tanzania, which reduces water vapor supply and decreases precipitation in Tanzania.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Mimi Hughes, Dustin Swales, James D. Scott, Michael Alexander, Kelly Mahoney, Rachel R. McCrary, Robert Cifelli, Melissa Bukovsky
Summary: Rainfall and snowpack in the Western U.S. vary greatly and have significant societal relevance. Previous studies have shown that they are influenced by extreme integrated water vapor transport events along the coast. Future projections indicate a decrease in cool season precipitation at high elevations and an increase in the Great Basin.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Katharine Ricke, Detelina Ivanova, Taylor McKie, Maria Rugenstein
Summary: Modeling of climate geoengineering proposals demonstrates that interventions depend on implementation specifics. The study shows that selectively cooling the Indian Ocean can increase precipitation in the Sahel region, reversing extreme conditions like the Sahelian drought of the mid-20th century. However, side effects may include changes in Sahelian precipitation distribution and substantial reductions in precipitation in sub-Saharan East Africa.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Miina Porkka, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Georgia Destouni, Annica M. L. Ekman, Johan Rockstrom, Line J. Gordon
Summary: The semi-arid Sahel region has been experiencing an upward trend in annual precipitation since the 1970s, with improvements in rainy season duration mainly confined to areas with increased annual rainfall. However, the association between annual rainfall and dry spell occurrence during the growing season is less clear. Overall, only scattered areas across the Sahel have seen improvements in agriculturally-relevant intraseasonal rainfall characteristics since the 1980s, while over half of the region has experienced declines or no improvements in these variables.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Philippe Peyrille, Romain Roehrig, Sidiki Sanogo
Summary: This study investigates the sub-seasonal drivers of extreme precipitation events (EPE) in the Central Sahel. A statistical approach is used to analyze the average EPE. It is found that EPEs occur within a large-scale moist anomaly, an upper-level divergence, and at shorter scales an intense vortex. These features are provided by multiple tropical waves, especially an Equatorial Rossby wave (ER) and an African Easterly Wave (AEW). Statistics show that the combination of AEW with ER and/or Kelvin wave increases the probability of EPE. Monitoring these tropical wave combinations could improve EPE forecasts.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Yeyan Jiang, Juan Li, Bin Wang, Youngmin Yang, Zhiwei Zhu
Summary: Over the past century, the decadal variations of Northern Hemisphere land monsoon rainfall (NHLMR) have been driven by the east-west sea surface temperature contrast over the Pacific and the interhemispheric North Atlantic-South Indian Ocean sea surface temperature dipole. Future projections show that the leading mode of decadal NHLMR will retain its spatial pattern and intensity, but with shortened periodicities and overall declining variation. The relationship between NHLMR and the oceanic forcing factors, particularly the interhemispheric dipole, will weaken in the future due to decreased anthropogenic aerosol emissions.
NPJ CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Paul-Arthur Monerie, Andrea J. Dittus, Laura J. Wilcox, Andrew G. Turner
Summary: Anthropogenic aerosol emissions from North America and Europe have significant effects on the decadal variability of the West African monsoon. The uncertainty in anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing leads to significant uncertainty in simulating long-term trends in West African precipitation. Larger aerosol forcing results in a decrease in the number of rainy days and extreme precipitation events, as well as changes in monsoon winds and temperature.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Fuyao Wang, Michael Notaro, Yan Yu, Jiafu Mao
Summary: This study systematically investigates and compares the simulated seasonal precipitation response in the Sahel among CMIP5 ESMs and its observational counterpart. It finds that CMIP5 models can reasonably capture the seasonal evolution of Sahel precipitation and soil moisture, although with some biases. The coupling of an ESM to a DGVM is critical in generating reasonable land-atmosphere feedback and examining future ecological and climatic changes over the Sahel.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Tingting Xie, Wei Huang, Shiqiao Chang, Fei Zheng, Jianhui Chen, Jie Chen, Fahu Chen
Summary: This study investigates the moisture sources of extreme precipitation events in arid Central Asia (ACA), showing that both Northern and Southern ACA are influenced by multiple sources of water vapor, with anomalous moisture from the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean playing a key role in precipitation development. Additionally, atmospheric pressure anomalies are also crucial in determining precipitation patterns in ACA.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Kuk-Hyun Ahn, Munir Ahmad Nayak
Summary: This study aims to explore the impact of atmospheric rivers (ARs) on precipitation in South Korea. The results show that ARs are an important source of precipitation in all seasons, and contribute to a significant portion of extreme precipitation events. Winter and spring are the seasons with the most prominent influence of ARs. Additionally, the changes in winter precipitation in recent years may be attributed to the strengthening of AR contributions.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Medicine, General & Internal
Aneeqah H. Naeem, Corey S. Davis, Elizabeth A. Samuels
Summary: There is growing interest in the United States for overdose-prevention centers among state and local officials, but federal law interpretation and enforcement remain a fundamental barrier.
NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
(2022)
