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- Title
Projected Changes in Permafrost Active Layer Thickness Over the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau Under Climate Change.
- Authors
Zhao, Dongsheng; Wu, Shaohong
- Abstract
Climate warming would increase the active layer thickness (ALT) of permafrost, which can cause changes in the hydrological cycle, ecological processes, and carbon flux in cold regions. However, changes in permafrost ALT due to climate warming remain poorly quantified, which limits our understanding of environmental change in cold regions. In this study, the Lund‐Postam‐Jena dynamic vegetation model is coupled to the Kudryavtsev model to examine changes in permafrost ALT on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau (QTP) under climate change scenarios based on the representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The results suggest that the permafrost ALT on the QTP would exhibit a significant increasing trend under the climate change scenarios, and a large increment of ALT may occur in the northwestern QTP. In the near‐term (2011–2040), the change in ALT on the QTP is different under the RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5 emissions scenarios, with an increment of 5–30 cm. In the mid‐term (2041–2070), ALT would deepen further with an obvious reduction in permafrost area, while the increase in ALT decreases from south to north. In the long‐term (2071–2099), the average increment of ALT would be greater than 30 cm under the RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5 scenarios, and the increment in ALT increases from south to north, with a remarkable retreat in permafrost area from south to north. Key Points: Climate change negatively affected the active layer thickness of permafrost on the Qinghai‐Tibet PlateauIncrement of active layer thickness shows a rising trend from the south to the northPermafrost area would retreat toward the interior of Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau with active layer thickness enhancement
- Subjects
QINGHAI Sheng (China); PERMAFROST; CLIMATE change; COLD regions; PLATEAUS; DYNAMIC models
- Publication
Water Resources Research, 2019, Vol 55, Issue 9, p7860
- ISSN
0043-1397
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2019WR024969