High-resolution simulations reveal regional climate evolution over China since the Last Glacial Maximum and shed light on the Holocene temperature conundrum
image: Reconstructed and simulated annual-mean temperature and precipitation changes over China since the Last Glacial Maximum. Panels (a–i) compare proxy-based temperature reconstructions with RegCM dynamical downscaling and iTraCE simulations, while panels (j–r) show the corresponding precipitation comparisons. Colored curves denote proxy reconstructions, black circles denote RegCM simulations, and gray triangles denote iTraCE simulations. Temperature and precipitation anomalies are calculated relative to their respective mean values over the entire 0–20 ka B.P. interval.
Credit: ©Science China Press
A study by Naixin Cao, Professor Liang Ning, and their colleagues at Nanjing Normal University was recently published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences. Using the isotope-enabled Transient Climate Experiment of the last 21,000 years, or iTraCE, as lateral boundary forcing, the research team nested the RegCM regional climate model to conduct high-resolution dynamical downscaling simulations over China since the Last Glacial Maximum. The simulations were evaluated against modern observations and multiple paleoclimate proxy reconstructions to investigate regional temperature and precipitation evolution.
Both iTraCE and RegCM reproduced the overall transition from the cold Last Glacial Maximum to the relatively warm and humid Holocene, while RegCM provided a more detailed representation of climate variability over complex terrain. Further analyses showed Holocene summer cooling but pronounced winter warming over northern China, the Tibetan Plateau, and northwestern China, with winter warming exerting a stronger influence on annual-mean temperature than summer cooling. Because some proxy records may preferentially reflect warm-season climate, these results provide a seasonal interpretation of the Holocene temperature conundrum over China by emphasizing asymmetric seasonal temperature changes and proxy seasonality.
See the article:
Naixin CAO, Liang NING, Jian LIU, Zhengyu LIU, Mi YAN, Weiyi SUN, Meiling JIANG, Xueyuan KUANG, Huayu LU, Kefan CHEN, Yanmin QIN, Qin WEN, Fangmiao XING. Regional climate downscaling simulations for China since the Last Glacial Maximum. 2026, 69(8): 3130-3144