Open AccessPredominant Type of Dust Storms That Influences Air Quality Over Northern China and Future Projections
Author(s) -
Li Jiandong,
Hao Xin,
Liao Hong,
Yue Xu,
Li Hua,
Long Xin,
Li Nan
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
earth's future
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.641
H-Index - 39
ISSN - 2328-4277
DOI - 10.1029/2022ef002649
Subject(s) - china , climatology , air quality index , environmental science , storm , coupled model intercomparison project , spring (device) , tropical cyclone , range (aeronautics) , cyclone (programming language) , dust storm , geography , physical geography , climate change , climate model , meteorology , oceanography , geology , mechanical engineering , materials science , archaeology , engineering , composite material , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware
Dust storms (DSs) originating in East Asia impact ecosystems, climate, and public health in China. Although DS frequencies have declined since the 1950s, extreme DSs in spring 2021 had major effects on air quality over northern China. Based on daily DS records in spring during 1979–2021 and K ‐means clustering, we define two DS types (T1 and T2) in northern China, accounting for 18.7% and 81.3% of DSs, respectively. T1 DSs, originating mainly in the Gobi Desert, predominantly influence air quality in northern China, while T2 DSs mainly influence northwestern China near the Taklimakan Desert. T1 and T2 DSs are driven by major synoptic systems including the Mongolian cyclone and cold fronts, respectively. Based on predictions of the Climate Models Intercomparison Project Phase Six, we demonstrate that the spring DS frequency would decrease during 2020–2100 under the shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) 585 scenario but would fluctuate with decadal variability under the SSP126 scenario. Our results indicate that spring DSs can be triggered by a range of mechanisms, with distinct impacts on air quality.