China's dimming and brightening: evidence, causes and hydrological implications

Wang, Y. W.; Yang, Yonghui

doi:10.5194/angeo-32-41-2014

Cited by 72 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 99 publications

(249 reference statements)

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“…4a). The averaged urban dimming rate in China is slightly lower than that obtained in previous studies (Wang et al, 2013;Wang and Yang, 2014) because a few megacities without available nearby rural stations were excluded from this study. Dimming in rural and sparsely populated areas was also noted in Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Egypt, and the greater Tel Aviv region by previous studies (e.g., Liley, 2009;Robaa, 2009;Stanhill and Cohen, 2009;Sanroma et al, 2010;Tanaka et al, 2016).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Subsequently, a transition from a decrease to an increase in surface solar radiation occurred in many regions of the world from the mid-1980s on the order of 1 to 4 W m −2 (Wild et al, 2005;Wild, 2012Wild, , 2016. These phenomena are popularly known as "global dimming and brightening", where "global" originally referred to "global radiation" as a synonym for surface solar radiation but is often interpreted in terms of a global-scale dimension (Wild, 2009(Wild, , 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared with surface solar radiation, sunshine duration has a much wider spatial and temporal coverage and is almost free of temporal inhomogeneities in China (Xia, 2010;Wang and Yang, 2014;Wang et al, 2015). For example, for the whole of China (latitudes 16 • 32 -52 • 58 N and longitudes 75 • 14 -132 • 58 E), there are 130 solar radiation stations with only 59 stations covering at least 85 % of the measurement period from 1958 to the present.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urbanization effect on trends in sunshine duration in China

et al. 2017

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Abstract. There is an ongoing debate on whether the observed decadal variations in surface solar radiation, known as "dimming" and "brightening" periods, are a large-scale or solely local phenomenon. We investigated this issue using long-term sunshine duration records from China, which experienced a rapid increase in urbanization during the past decades. Over the period 1960-2013, 172 pairs of urban and nearby rural stations were analyzed. Urban and rural sunshine duration trends show similar spatial patterns during a dimming phase and a subsequent period during which trends were leveling off . This indicates that rather than local effects, the trends in sunshine duration are on more of a national or regional scale in China. Nevertheless, in the dimming phase, the declining rate of sunshine duration in rural areas is around two-thirds of that in urban areas. The ratio of rural to urban dimming generally increases from a minimum of 0.39 to a maximum of 0.87 with increasing indices of urbanization calculated based on the year 2013. It reaches a maximum when the urbanization level exceeds 50 %, the urban population exceeds 20 million, or the population density becomes higher than 250 person km −2 . After the transition into the leveling-off period, sunshine duration trends are no longer significantly affected by urbanization. Meanwhile, the number of laws and regulations related to air pollution and investment in pollution treatment have been increasing in China.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urbanization effect on trends in sunshine duration in China

et al. 2017

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“…The intense human activity releases vast amounts of tiny particles and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The increase in aerosols in the atmosphere induces strong reflection of incoming solar radiation and rapid decline in solar radiation absorption (Wang and Yang 2014). Thus, a strong trend of decline in solar radiation has persisted in China since the 1960s (Che et al 2005).…”

Section: Changes In Climate Variable and Maize Yieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contributions of cultivar shift, management practice and climate change to maize yield in North China Plain in 1981–2009

Xiao

Tao

2015

Int J Biometeorol

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The impact of climate change on crop yield is compounded by cultivar shifts and agronomic management practices. To determine the relative contributions of climate change, cultivar shift, and management practice to changes in maize (Zea mays L.) yield in the past three decades, detailed field data for 1981-2009 from four representative experimental stations in North China Plain (NCP) were analyzed via model simulation. The four representative experimental stations are geographically and climatologically different, represent the typical cropping system in the study area, and have more complete weather/crop records for the period of 1981-2009. The results showed that while the shift from traditional to modern cultivar increased yield by 23.9-40.3 %, new fertilizer management increased yield by 3.3-8.6 %. However, the trends in climate variables for 1981-2009 reduced maize yield by 15-30 % in the study area. Among the main climate variables, solar radiation had the largest effect on maize yield, followed by temperature and then precipitation. While a significant decline in solar radiation in 1981-2009 (maybe due to air pollution) reduced yield by 12-24 %, a significant increase in temperature reduced yield by 3-9 %. In contrast, a non-significant increase in precipitation during the maize growth period increased yield by 0.9-3 % at three of the four investigated stations. However, a decline in precipitation reduced yield by 3 % in the remaining station. The study revealed that although the shift from traditional to modern cultivars and agronomic management practices contributed most to the increase in maize yield, the negative impact of climate change was large enough to offset 46-67 % of the trend in the observed yields in the past three decades in NCP. The reduction in solar radiation, especially in the most critical period of maize growth, limited the process of photosynthesis and thereby further reduced maize yield.

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“…In earlier studies, Ohmura and Lang (1989) proposed cloud changes as the cause of global dimming, while a few studies (Stanhill and Moreshet, 1992;Liepert et al, 1994) attributed the radiation changes to aerosols. Previous studies until now generally pointed to the dominant role of aerosols in bringing about global dimming and brightening in China and Japan (Kaiser and Qian, 2002;Hayasaka et al, 2006;Qian et al, 2006;Norris and Wild, 2009;Kudo et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2012;Wang and Yang, 2014), in Europe (Norris and Wild, 2007;Ruckstuhl et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2012), and globally (Wild et al, 2005) based on a variety of approaches to estimating or inferring clear-sky (or cloud-free) SSR. Streets et al (2006) showed that the temporal trends of global mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) derived from emission inventories for sulfate dioxide (SO 2 ) and black carbon (BC) have a resemblance to the global brightening and dimming phenomenon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is global dimming and brightening in Japan limited to urban areas?

et al. 2016

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Abstract. Worldwide observations indicate secular trends of all-sky surface solar radiation on a decadal time scale, termed global dimming and brightening. Accordingly, the observed surface radiation in Japan generally shows a strong decline until the end of the 1980s and then a recovery until around 2000. Because a substantial number of measurement stations are located within or close to populated areas, one may speculate that the observed trends are strongly influenced by local air pollution and are thus not of large-scale significance. This hypothesis poses a serious question as to what regional extent the global dimming and brightening are significant: are the global dimming and brightening truly global phenomena, or regional, or even only local? Our study focused on 14 meteorological observatories that measured all-sky surface solar radiation, zenith transmittance, and maximum transmittance. On the basis of municipality population time series, historical land use maps, recent satellite images, and actual site visits, we concluded that eight stations have been significantly influenced by urbanization, with the remaining six stations being left pristine. Between the urban and rural areas, no marked differences were identified in the temporal trends of the aforementioned meteorological parameters. Our findings suggest that global dimming and brightening in Japan occurred on a large scale, independently of urbanization.

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China's dimming and brightening: evidence, causes and hydrological implications

Cited by 72 publications

References 99 publications

Urbanization effect on trends in sunshine duration in China

Urbanization effect on trends in sunshine duration in China

Contributions of cultivar shift, management practice and climate change to maize yield in North China Plain in 1981–2009

Is global dimming and brightening in Japan limited to urban areas?

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