Delayed seasonal march of East Asian summer monsoonal rain belt during Heinrich Stadials
4 affiliations
- 1Institute of Atmospheric Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences
- 2Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences
- 3Danish Meteorological Institute
- 4Chinese Academy of Sciences
Abstract
The timing and duration of monsoon rainfall shape regional hydroclimate, yet their response to abrupt climate change remains poorly constrained. Here, we use 25-km-resolution climate simulations to investigate the seasonal migration of the East Asian summer monsoon rain belt during Heinrich Stadials, periods associated with collapsed Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). We find that the rain belt migrated northward 18 days later than during interstadials. This delay kept the monsoon front longer over central China, prolonging early-summer rainfall despite an overall weaker monsoon. The delayed migration was linked to later northward advances of the western North Pacific subtropical high and upper-level westerly jet. North Atlantic cooling contributed to these circulation changes through Rossby wave propagation and a weakened land–sea thermal contrast. Our results suggest that abrupt Atlantic changes can reshape both the amount and seasonal timing of East Asian summer rainfall. These findings offer a palaeoclimate perspective on potential changes in monsoon seasonality under future AMOC weakening.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026delayed,
title = {{Delayed seasonal march of East Asian summer monsoonal rain belt during Heinrich Stadials}},
author = {Jinzhe Zhang and Wei Ting and Chuncheng Guo and Qing Yan},
journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/aebcfb},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aebcfb},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Delayed seasonal march of East Asian summer monsoonal rain belt during Heinrich Stadials
AU - Jinzhe Zhang
AU - Wei Ting
AU - Chuncheng Guo
AU - Qing Yan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
JO - Environmental Research Letters
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/aebcfb
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aebcfb
AB - The timing and duration of monsoon rainfall shape regional hydroclimate, yet their response to abrupt climate change remains poorly constrained. Here, we use 25-km-resolution climate simulations to investigate the seasonal migration of the East Asian summer monsoon rain belt during Heinrich Stadials, periods associated with collapsed Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). We find that the rain belt migrated northward 18 days later than during interstadials. This delay kept the monsoon front longer over central China, prolonging early-summer rainfall despite an overall weaker monsoon. The delayed migration was linked to later northward advances of the western North Pacific subtropical high and upper-level westerly jet. North Atlantic cooling contributed to these circulation changes through Rossby wave propagation and a weakened land–sea thermal contrast. Our results suggest that abrupt Atlantic changes can reshape both the amount and seasonal timing of East Asian summer rainfall. These findings offer a palaeoclimate perspective on potential changes in monsoon seasonality under future AMOC weakening.
SN - 1748-9326
ER -