Lenz, O. K. ; Mosbrugger, V. ; Yao, T. (2017)
CAME II (Crossing Climatic Tipping Points - Consequences for Central Asia) - A New German Contribution to TPE.
7th Third Pole Environment (TPE) Workshop. Kunming, China (12.07.2017)
Konferenzveröffentlichung, Bibliographie

Kurzbeschreibung (Abstract)

The mainly semi-arid region of Central Asia with the highest mountains and the largest mountain plateau in the world plays a decisive role in the global climate system, since, for example, the Tibetan plateau has a significant influence on the Asian monsoon. Important hydrological processes such as flood and drought periods are dependent on the East Asian and Indian monsoons as well as the high mountain glaciers in this region. The region reacts particularly sensitive to global climate change as well as to human interventions in the natural geo-ecosystems. Climate processes such as the Indian monsoon also have an impact far beyond the regional climate and also influence the climate of the Northern Hemisphere, for example, in Europe. Changes in the Indian monsoon over the last three decades such as the more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events are a cause for concern that this climate system is in the scope of global climate warming in a transitional phase and is heading towards a significant tipping point. Tipping points are critical states that determine whether a perturbed system returns to its previous state or develops towards a new balanced state, and thus undergoes drastic changes. However, tipping points in the climate system are still insufficiently understood in many respects. The project "CAME II: Crossing Climatic Tipping Points - Consequences for Central Asia" which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany for a three year period between 2016 and 2019 shall identify ecologic, climatic, and geologic tipping points in this region over the range of geologic and anthropogenic time-scales from the Pliocene up to the Holocene. In coordinated, interdisciplinary projects and in international cooperation critical thresholds as well as the underlying triggers and mechanisms will be spatially and temporally studied in order to estimate their consequences for geo-ecosystems and for today's society and to provide timely recommendations for action to minimize the impact of crossing future tipping points. CAME II is initiated as the German contribution to the international "Third Pole Environment" (TPE) program with the ITP (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research) as the main Chinese project partner. At present, CAME II consists of two major joint projects, Q-TiP (Quaternary Tipping Points of Lake Systems in the Arid Zone of Central Asia) and CAHOL (Central Asian Holocene Climate). A total of 5 research facilities and 9 universities from Germany are involved in CAME II with more than 12 single projects. Within Q-TiP it is the aim to get new insights into the processes of formation, conservation and disappearance of lake systems in the dry areas of Central Asia. The investigations are focused on existing drill cores from the Chinese Qaidam and Gaxun Nur basins as well as on the Mongolian Orog Nuur basin (Figure 1). Thereby, glacial-interglacial cycles of the last 2-3 million years and especially the last glacial cycle (120 ka) are studied. In the different CAHOL projects the hypothesis is tested that long-lasting phases of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) or the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) can cause tipping points in the Asian monsoon climate by a long-term shift of the Westerlies. For this purpose, new sediment archives are investigated in the Westerlies region (Central Tian Shan, Chatyr Kol, SE Kyrgyzstan), in the transition from the Westerlies to the Indian monsoon (northern Arabian Sea) and in the area of the East Asian monsoon (South China Sea) to understand the long-distance teleconnections in the climate system between the North Atlantic, the Westerlies and the monsoon system (Figure 2).

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