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Changes in land-atmosphere coupling increase compound drought and heatwaves over northern East Asia.

Changes in land-atmosphere coupling increase compound drought and heatwaves over northern East Asia.

Authors :
Seo, Ye-Won
Ha, Kyung-Ja
Source :
NPJ Climate & Atmospheric Science; 12/15/2022, Vol. 5 Issue 1, p1-9, 9p
Publication Year :
2022

Abstract

Compound drought and heatwaves (DHW) events have much attention due to their notable impacts on socio-ecological systems. However, studies on the mechanisms of DHW related to land-atmosphere interaction are not still fully understood in regional aspects. Here, we investigate drastic increases in DHW from 1980 to 2019 over northern East Asia, one of the strong land-atmosphere interaction regions. Heatwaves occurring in severely dry conditions have increased after the late 1990s, suggesting that the heatwaves in northern East Asia are highly likely to be compound heatwaves closely related to drought. Moreover, the soil moisture–temperature coupling strength increased in regions with strong increases in DHW through phase transitions of both temperature and heat anomalies that determine the coupling strength. As the soil moisture decreases, the probability density of low evapotranspiration increases through evaporative heat absorption. This leads to increase evaporative stress and eventually amplify DHW since the late 1990s. In particular, seasonal changes in soil moisture and evapotranspiration between spring and summer contributed to the amplification of DHW by enhancing land-atmosphere interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
23973722
Volume :
5
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
NPJ Climate & Atmospheric Science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
160821573
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-022-00325-8