The authors exploit the remarkable connection between the Chinese climate trends and the annular modes by partitioning the trends into components linearly congruent with and linearly independent of the annular modes. Results show that the winter hemisphere annular mode has closer connection to Chinese climate than the summer one, e.g., the wetting JJA (June-July-August) rainfall trend along the Yangtze River valley and the associated temperature trends are significantly linearly congruent with the trend of the southern annular mode, while the JFM (January-February-March) climate trends are closely linked to the northern annular mode. The seasonal differences of a meridional wave-train-like chain across the equatorial Pacific associated with the annular modes are responsible for the seasonal-dependent connections to Chinese climate.
Citation: Zhou, T. J., and J. Li, 2008: Climate change in China congruent with the linear trends of the annular modes, Atmos. Oceanic Sci. Lett., 1, 1-7