Reconstruction of high-resolution climate data over China from rainfall and snowfall records in the Qing Dynasty

In recent years, researchers studying historical climates have given an increasing amount of attention to the Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun record of the Qing Dynasty of China. These records play an important role in the quantitative reconstruction of the climate from the past 300years in China due to their uniform recording formats and measurement methods. As a result of collective effort, methods for climate reconstruction are constantly improving, and regions with reconstructed high-resolution historical climate data are expanding. This study reviews the features of the Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun record and summarizes the progress and primary results achieved over the past 20years. Studies showed that temperature variations over eastern China had three stages: a relatively cold phase in the 18th century, the coldest phase in the 19th century, and the warmest phase during and after the 20th century. However, the amplitudes between the maximum and minimum temperatures differed from 4.2 to 5.7 degrees C among different regions and sites. The variation in annual precipitation in North China showed an opposite phase to the Meiyu rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the periods of 1736-1767, 1916-1948, and after 1955, and a consistent phase in the periods of 1792-1836 and 1845-1885. The rainband regularly moved away from South China in early May to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in mid-June, and then finally arrived in North China in early July. This article is categorized under: Paleoclimates and Current Trends > Modern Climate Change