Regulation of Tibetan Plateau heating on variation of Indian summer monsoon in the last two millennia

Abstract

Decadal surface temperatures averaged over the Tibetan Plateau are derived for the last two millennia from ice core and tree-ring reconstructed surface temperatures at various locations on the Plateau. The temperature variations show that 1) the late 20th century is the warmest period in the past two millennia, 2) a persistent warming in Tibetan Plateau since the 17th century coincides with intensification of the Indian summer monsoon, and most importantly, 3) in the two millennia, epochs of cool/warm temperatures in the Tibetan Plateau coincided with weak/strong Indian summer monsoon. Comparisons between monsoon intensity variations and temperature fluctuations in other parts of the Eurasian continent suggest that the surface heating over the Tibetan Plateau has played a dominant role in changes of the Indian summer monsoon intensity. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.