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Optimal Meridional Positions of the Tibetan Plateau for Intensifying the Asian Summer Monsoon

Junbin Wang,Song Yang,Zhenning Li,Mengmeng Lu,Ziqian Wang,Guoxiong Wu

Published 2022 in Journal of Climate

ABSTRACT

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) exerts significant influences on the earth’s climate, and it is commonly accepted that the plateau enhances the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM). However, since the TP is located in the subtropics and its climate responses consist of both tropical and extratropical characteristics, a naturally-asked question is: how would the TP affect the ASM if it is shifted to different latitudes? A series of experiments with a state-of-the-art earth system model demonstrate that the current location of the TP is not optimal for intensifying the ASM. When the TP is moved southward, the tropical South Asian monsoon (SAM) intensifies, associated with strengthened thermally-driven atmospheric circulation, while the subtropical East Asian monsoon (EAM) weakens. When the TP is located in the higher-than-current latitudes, on the other hand, the SAM weakens and the EAM intensifies. In particular, when the TP shifts northward by 8° of latitudes, the Asian continent witnesses the heaviest summer monsoon rainfall. Changes in the meridional location of the plateau cause substantial differences in atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport, and thus in monsoon rainfall.

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