[1] Three alternate China-wide temperature composites covering the last 2000 years were established by combining multiple paleoclimate proxy records obtained from ice cores, tree rings, lake sediments and historical documents. Five periods of temperature variation can be identified: a warm stage in AD 0–240, a cold interval between AD 240 and 800, a return to warm conditions from AD 800–1400, i...

The annual cycle of extra-tropical surface air temperature is an important component of the Earth's climate system. Over the past decades, a reduced amplitude of this mode has been observed in some regions. Although attributed to anthropogenic forcing, it remains unclear when dampening of the annual cycle started. Here we use a residual series of tree-ring width and maximum latewood density fro...

The consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly evident in the Tibetan Plateau, represented by glaciers retreating and lakes expanding, but the biological response to climate change by plateau-lake ecosystems is poorly known. In this study, we applied dendrochronology methods to develop a growth index chronology with otolith increment widths of Selincuo naked carp (Gymnocypris seli...

Over the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent regions, numerous (14)C-based lake records revealed a ubiquitous wet climatic period during 40-25 ka (late MIS 3), which is in contradiction with the global pattern of generally cold and dry climates. This paper focuses on OSL dating results of a large set of sand dunes and alluvial sediments (50 OSL ages) from the Qinwangchuan (QWC) Basin at the northeast ...

An analysis of fault-related fold structures and the focal mechanisms of large earthquakes reveals that the maximum horizontal stress is oriented sub-perpendicular to the intracontinental strike-slip Kunlun Fault, which triggered the 1997 Mw 7.6 Manyi and 2001 Mw 7.8 Kunlun earthquakes upon the northern Tibetan Plateau. Based on seismic inversion results and in situ measurements of stress perfo...

This essay examines the current state of economic development and environmental degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, focusing primarily on the nomadic area of Zhidou County (Sanjiangyuan region), Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai Province. Current initiatives from the provincial government, though well intentioned, are missing key elements in order to develop the region and maintain the preserva...

We report directly dated evidence from circa 1400 calibrated years (cal) B.C. for the early use of wheat, barley, and flax as staple crops on the borders of the Tibetan Plateau. During recent years, an increasing amount of data from the Tibetan Plateau and its margins shows that a transition from millets to wheat and barley agriculture took place during the second millennium B.C. Using thermal ...

BACKGROUND Monitoring vegetation dynamics and their responses to climate change has been the subject of considerable research. This paper aims to detect change trends in grassland activity on the Tibetan Plateau between 1982 and 2006 and relate these to changes in climate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Grassland activity was analyzed by evaluating remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegeta...

Imagine a world without mountains! Temperature, wind and rainfall patterns would differ greatly from what we know. In Asia, the very high Tibetan Plateau exerts a strong influence on climate. Heated directly by intense solar radiation during summertime, the temperatures in June– August form a regional maximum. Lhasa at 3.65 km above sea level, for example, has an average comfortable 15°C during...