Sea ice reduction in the Barents–Kara Sea enhances June precipitation in the Yangtze River basin

Xie, Tianli; Zhou, Zhen-Qiang; Zhang, Renhe; Wu, Bingyi; Zhang, Peng

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1303-2025

Articles | Volume 19, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1303-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1303-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 3

Research article

|

20 Mar 2025

Research article |

| 20 Mar 2025

Sea ice reduction in the Barents–Kara Sea enhances June precipitation in the Yangtze River basin

Tianli Xie, Zhen-Qiang Zhou, Renhe Zhang, Bingyi Wu, and Peng Zhang

Data sets

Global Analyses of Sea Surface Temperature, Sea Ice, and Night Marine Air Temperature Since the Late Nineteenth Century (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadisst/data/download.html) N. A. Rayner et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002670

Global Precipitation: A 17-Year Monthly Analysis Based on Gauge Observations, Satellite Estimates, and Numerical Model Outputs (https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.cmap.html) P. Xie and P. A. Arkin https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1997)078<2539:GPAYMA>2.0.CO;2

ERA5 monthly averaged data on pressure levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.6860a573

Tianli-Xie/numerical-experiments-for-precipitation-in-the-Yangtze-River-basin: numerical-experiments-for-precipitation-in-the-Yangtze-River-basin Tianli Xie https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15034783

Short summary

As the Arctic warms, changes in sea ice and sea surface temperature are altering global climate patterns. Our study links Barents–Kara Sea (BKS) ice loss and rising sea surface temperatures to increased summer rainfall in the Yangtze River basin. The thermal forcing from the BKS triggers a Rossby wave train that enhances moisture transport and anomalous ascending motions, leading to increased rainfall. Understanding this connection is crucial for predicting summer rainfall in East Asia.