Precipitation pattern of the mid-Holocene simulated by a high-resolution regional climate model

Early proxy-based studies suggested that there potentially occurred a "southern drought/northern flood" (SDNF) over East China in the mid-Holocene (from roughly 7000 to 5000 years before present). In this study, we used both global and regional atmospheric circulation models to demonstrate that the SDNF-namely, the precipitation increases over North China and decreases over the the lower reaches of the Yangtze River Valley-could have taken place in the mid-Holocene. We found that the SDNF in the mid-Holocene was likely caused by the lower SST in the Pacific. The lowered SST and the higher air temperature over mainland China increased the land-sea thermal contrast and, as a result, strengthened the East Asian summer monsoon and enhanced the precipitation over North China.