Response differences and causes of the East Asian Summer Monsoon to the Holocene Thermal Maximum and current warming

ZHANG Liyue, CHENG Jun, LIU Yitao

Journal of Marine Sciences ›› 2026, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (2) : 27-34.

PDF(3353 KB)
PDF(3353 KB)
Journal of Marine Sciences ›› 2026, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (2) : 27-34. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2026.02.003

Response differences and causes of the East Asian Summer Monsoon to the Holocene Thermal Maximum and current warming

Author information +
History +

Abstract

To address the scarcity of modern East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) observations, improve dynamical mechanisms and enhance future projection capability, multiple CMIP6-PMIP4 models were adopted to investigate EASM responses to the Holocene Thermal Maximum and current warming, with their differences, mechanisms and controlling factors were clarified. The EASM intensification during the Holocene Thermal Maximum was far stronger than that under current warming, which originates from distinct forcings between the Holocene Thermal Maximum and current warming, and aerosol emissions under current warming further dampen the response amplitude of the EASM. Remarkable EASM intensification occurred during the Holocene Thermal Maximum, featuring increased northern precipitation and reduced southern precipitation. By contrast, weak monsoon responses appeared under current warming with distinct precipitation spatial patterns. Summer land-sea thermal contrast differences dominated such divergent responses. This study elucidates the response law of the EASM to warming driven by distinct external forcings, deepens the understanding of monsoon dynamics, and provides theoretical support for future EASM projection.

Key words

East Asian Summer Monsoon / warming / Holocene / solar insolation / land-ocean thermal contrast / dynamics / greenhouse gases / aerosols

Cite this article

Download Citations
ZHANG Liyue , CHENG Jun , LIU Yitao. Response differences and causes of the East Asian Summer Monsoon to the Holocene Thermal Maximum and current warming[J]. Journal of Marine Sciences. 2026, 44(2): 27-34 https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2026.02.003

References

[1]
HONG B, GASSE F, UCHIDA M, et al. Increasing summer rainfall in arid eastern-central Asia over the past 8500 years[J]. Scientific Reports, 2014, 4: 5279.
[2]
MOHTADI M, PRANGE M, STEINKE S. Palaeoclimatic insights into forcing and response of monsoon rainfall[J]. Nature, 2016, 533(7602): 191-199.
[3]
WANG B, WU R G, LAU K M. Interannual variability of the Asian Summer Monsoon: Contrasts between the Indian and the western north Pacific-East Asian monsoons[J]. Journal of Climate, 2001, 14(20): 4073-4090.
[4]
LI S X, SATO T, NAKAMURA T, et al. East Asian summer rainfall stimulated by subseasonal Indian Monsoonal heating[J]. Nature Communications, 2023, 14: 5932.
[5]
SAMSET B H, ZHOU C, FUGLESTVEDT J S, et al. Steady global surface warming from 1973 to 2022 but increased warming rate after 1990[J]. Communications Earth & Environment, 2023, 4: 400.
[6]
LENTON T M, XU C, ABRAMS J F, et al. Quantifying the human cost of global warming[J]. Nature Sustainability, 2023, 6(10): 1237-1247.
[7]
IPCC. Summary for policymakers[R]//Climate Change 2021:The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021: 3-32.
[8]
LI T, WANG L, PENG M, et al. A paper on the tropical intraseasonal oscillation published in 1963 in a Chinese journal[J]. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2018, 99(9): 1765-1779.
[9]
RENSSEN H, SEPPÄ H, CROSTA X, et al. Global characterization of the Holocene thermal maximum[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2012, 48: 7-19.
[10]
MARCOTT S A, SHAKUN J D, CLARK P U, et al. A reconstruction of regional and global temperature for the past 11, 300 years[J]. Science, 2013, 339(6124): 1198-1201.
[11]
CHEN F H, CHEN S Q, ZHANG X, et al. Asian dust-storm activity dominated by Chinese dynasty changes since 2000 BP[J]. Nature Communications, 2020, 11: 992.
[12]
周爱锋, 孙惠玲, 陈发虎, 等. 黄土高原六盘山天池记录的中晚全新世高分辨率气候变化及其意义[J]. 科学通报, 2010, 55(22):2264-2267.
ZHOU A F, SUN H L, CHEN F H, et al. High-resolution climate change in mid-late Holocene on Tianchi Lake, Liupan Mountain in the Loess Plateau in central China and its significance[J]. Chinese Science Bulletin, 2010, 55(20): 2118-2121.
[13]
CLEMENS S C, PRELL W L, SUN Y B. Orbital-scale timing and mechanisms driving Late Pleistocene Indo-Asian summer monsoons: Reinterpreting cave speleothem δ18O[J]. Paleoceanography, 2010, 25: PA4207.
[14]
KAUFMAN D, MCKAY N, ROUTSON C, et al. Holocene global mean surface temperature, a multi-method recons-truction approach[J]. Scientific Data, 2020, 7: 201.
[15]
THOMPSON A J, ZHU J, POULSEN C J, et al. Northern Hemisphere vegetation change drives a Holocene thermal maximum[J]. Science Advances, 2022, 8(15): eabj6535.
[16]
XU H, SONG Y P, CAO J, et al. Heterogeneity of the East Asian rainfall influenced by solar-forced western Pacific subtropical high[J]. Communications Earth & Environment, 2024, 5: 521.
[17]
EYRING V, BONY S, MEEHL G A, et al. Overview of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) experimental design and organization[J]. Geoscientific Model Development, 2016, 9(5): 1937-1958.
[18]
SLIVINSKI L C, COMPO G P, SARDESHMUKH P D, et al. An evaluation of the performance of the twentieth century reanalysis version 3[J]. Journal of Climate, 2021, 34(4): 1417-1438.
[19]
SCHNEIDER D P, DESER C, FASULLO J, et al. Climate data guide spurs discovery and understanding[J]. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 2013, 94(13): 121-122.
[20]
TAN L C, LI Y Z, WANG X Q, et al. Holocene monsoon change and abrupt events on the western Chinese Loess Plateau as revealed by accurately dated stalagmites[J]. Geophysical Research Letters, 2020, 47(21): e2020GL090273.
[21]
OTTO-BLIESNER B L, BRACONNOT P, HARRISON S P, et al. The PMIP4 contribution to CMIP6-Part 2: Two interglacials, scientific objective and experimental design for Holocene and Last Interglacial simulations[J]. Geoscientific Model Development, 2017, 10(11): 3979-4003.
[22]
CHENG J, MA W Y, LIU Z Y, et al. Varying sensitivity of east Asia summer monsoon circulation to temperature change since Last Glacial Maximum[J]. Geophysical Research Letters, 2019, 46(15): 9103-9109.
[23]
RAO Z G, JIA G D, LI Y X, et al. Asynchronous evolution of the isotopic composition and amount of precipitation in north China during the Holocene revealed by a record of compound-specific carbon and hydrogen isotopes of long-chain n-alkanes from an alpine lake[J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2016, 446: 68-76.
[24]
WANG N, JIANG D B, LANG X M. Mechanisms for spatially inhomogeneous changes in East Asian summer monsoon precipitation during the mid-Holocene[J]. Journal of Climate, 2020, 33(8): 2945-2965.
[25]
田芝平, 张冉, 姜大膀. 全新世中期中国气候和东亚季风: PMIP4模式结果[J]. 地学前缘, 2022, 29(5):355-371.
TIAN Z P, ZHANG R, JIANG D B. Mid-Holocene climate in China and the East Asian monsoon: Insights from PMIP4 simulations[J]. Earth Science Frontiers, 2022, 29(5): 355-371.
[26]
XU C X, SIMON WANG S Y, BORHARA K, et al. Asian-Australian summer monsoons linkage to ENSO strengthened by global warming[J]. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 2023, 6: 8.
[27]
HSU P C, LI T, LUO J J, et al. Increase of global monsoon area and precipitation under global warming: A robust signal[J]. Geophysical Research Letters, 2012, 39(6): 2012GL051037.
[28]
KUMAR P V, NAIDU C V, PRASANNA K. Recent unprecedented weakening of Indian summer monsoon in warming environment[J]. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2020, 140(1): 467-486.
[29]
ZUO Z Y, YANG S, KUMAR A, et al. Role of thermal condition over Asia in the weakening Asian summer monsoon under global warming background[J]. Journal of Climate, 2012, 25(9): 3431-3436.
[30]
SOORAJ K P, TERRAY P, MUJUMDAR M. Global warming and the weakening of the Asian summer monsoon circulation: Assessments from the CMIP5 models[J]. Climate Dynamics, 2015, 45(1): 233-252.
[31]
RECCHIA L G, LUCARINI V. Modelling the effect of aerosol and greenhouse gas forcing on the South Asian and East Asian monsoons with an intermediate-complexity climate model[J]. Earth System Dynamics, 2023, 14(3): 697-722.
PDF(3353 KB)

Accesses

Citation

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/