The timing and duration of the Holocene East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) maximum and the interpretation of Chinese stalagmite δ18O records have long been disputed. Notably, interpretations of ...Holocene EASM variations are frequently based on a single record or study area and are often contradictory. In this study, we conducted stable isotope analyses of four Holocene stalagmites from Chongqing, southwest China. The results reveal differences in the timing of the Holocene EASM maximum and to try to resolve the inconsistency we analyzed and statistically integrated a total of 16 Holocene stalagmite records from 14 caves in the EASM region. The resulting synthesized Holocene stalagmite δ18O (δ18Osyn) record is in agreement with other EASM records and confirms that stalagmite δ18O records are a valid indicator of EASM intensity, rather of local precipitation amount. The δ18Osyn record shows that the EASM intensified rapidly from the onset of the early Holocene; notably, however, there were distinct EASM oscillations in the early Holocene, consisting of three abrupt millennial-scale events. This indicates that, contrary to several previous interpretations, the early Holocene EASM was unstable. Subsequently, during 8–6 kyr BP, the EASM was relatively stable and strong, with the strongest monsoon occurring during 8–7 kyr BP. This evidence of a stable and strong mid-Holocene EASM in eastern China is in accord with the classical view of a mid-Holocene Optimum in China.
In the decade following the Asian financial crisis, the East Asian political economy has experienced a radical transformation. This book thus investigates the responses of Japanese automotive makers ...to the processes of regionalism and regionalization by locating firm-level analysis in a broader political economy context.
East Asia has witnessed an acceleration of geographical movements and varied patterns of social mobility across the region as economies matured and growth slowed. This special issue builds on the ...widely recognized gender dimensions of geographical mobility and investigates its relationship with social mobility from a gender perspective, while also recognizing that social mobility, with or without geographical mobility, is gendered. Focusing specifically on women and exploring the interrelationship between social and geographical mobility, we identify three key issues: (1) gendered employment opportunities and obstacles to moving up and around; (2) the interaction between women’s migration/mobility and marriage, motherhood, family roles, and domestic responsibilities; and (3) emerging trends in women’s migration and return migration in relation to social mobility. These issues cast light on the ways in which different forms of geographical and social mobility can either empower women or reinforce gender inequality in East Asian societies.
A coelotine species, Femoracoelotes platnicki, previously known only from Taiwan, is newly recorded from Iriomote Island, southwest Japan. The genus Femoracoelotes is characterized by the presence of ...a palpal femoral apophysis, the absence of a median apophysis, the absence of epigynal teeth, and broad, saclike copulatory ducts connected or overlapped medially. The morphology of F. platnicki specimens collected from Taiwan, including the type specimens are reassessed. Morphological data including variation in male palpal morphology, coloration and markings are provided on the basis of fresh specimens from Iriomote Island.
This book uses the notion of "Chinese exceptionalism" as a framework to analyze China's international politics and foreign policy. It argues that China's approach to international relations is best ...understood in the context of these claims to exceptionalism and China's broader political world view. In doing so, it fosters a more comprehensive understanding of China's actions within the realms of foreign policy and international politics, and in the context of the preferred world order, norms and rules that the country seeks to promote.
We are living at a time when people appear to have become more aware of the power of narratives in international politics. Understanding how narratives exercise power is therefore more pertinent than ...ever. This special issue develops the concept of narrative power for international relations research by focusing on East Asia-the region that has been at the centre of debates about international power shifts since the 1990s. This introduction seeks to elucidate and define four key binary distinctions: (a) narrative power as understood from the perspective of an individualist versus a narrative ontology; (b) narrative power as explanandum versus explanans; (c) narrative power as more prone to continuity or change; and (d) the scholar as a detached observer of narrative power versus the scholar as a narrative entrepreneur and a potential wielder of power. Informed by the individual contributions, the introduction demonstrates how and with what implications research on narrative power can negotiate and traverse these binary distinctions.
We investigate the relationship between winter aerosol concentrations over East Asia and variability in the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) using GEOS-Chem 3-D global chemical transport model ...simulations and ground-based aerosol concentration data. We find that both observed and modeled surface aerosol concentrations have strong relationships with the intensity of the EAWM over northern (30–50°N, 100–140°E) and southern (20–30°N, 100–140°E) East Asia. In strong winter monsoon years, compared to weak winter monsoon years, lower and higher surface PM2.5 concentrations by up to 25% are shown over northern and southern East Asia, respectively. Analysis of the simulated results indicates that the southward transport of aerosols is a key process controlling changes in aerosol concentrations over East Asia associated with the EAWM. Variability in the EAWM is found to play a major role in interannual variations in aerosol concentrations; consequently, changes in the EAWM will be important for understanding future changes in wintertime air quality over East Asia.
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•East Asian Winter monsoon impact on aerosol concentrations in East Asia.•Aerosol concentrations have strong relationships with the intensity of the East Asian winter monsoon.•Differences in PM2.5 concentrations caused by differences in winter monsoon intensity are up to 25%.•East Asian winter monsoon is important for the interannual variation of aerosol concentrations.
The East Asian winter monsoon plays an important role in controlling the interannual variation in wintertime aerosol concentrations over East Asia.
•Compared to the microphysical model, the isotope inversion model usually underestimates the evaporation in arid regions.•The microphysical model is more sensitive to errors in temperature and ...relative humidity than the isotope inversion model.•The range of raindrop remaining fraction in the isotope inversion model was determined for different isotopic inputs.
In global hydrological circulation, evaporation widely occurs from the land, the oceans, and other water surfaces. Compared to the evaporation from open water, the below-cloud evaporation of falling raindrops is more difficult to quantify. As an alternative to the traditional microphysical model, the difference in stable water isotopes between water vapour and precipitation provides a new perspective to estimate the raindrop mass loss. According to the recent observations of stable isotopes in near-surface water vapour and precipitation in five sampling stations from humid to arid climates in East Asia, we quantified the below-cloud evaporation of raindrops using both a microphysical model and an isotope inversion model. The results indicate that the isotope inversion model, relative to the microphysical model, usually underestimates the impact of below-cloud evaporation on precipitation, especially in arid inland. The sensitivity test of the two models to errors in climatic factors shows that the microphysical model was more sensitive to errors in temperature and relative humidity than the isotope inversion model. We also plot the ranges that the isotope inversion model has solutions under various meteorological and isotope inputs. The findings are useful for understanding the atmospheric processes below the cloud base and the comparability of different methods in quantifying below-cloud evaporation.
This book aims to promote a better understanding of the education policy choices and implementation modalities that have enabled many East Asian countries over the last 30-40 years to move from ...education and economic conditions similar to those of many Sub-Saharan Africa countries to attain the level of development they enjoy today.
This paper presents a review on the impact of El Niño on the interannual variability of atmospheric circulations over East Asia and rainfall in China through the anomalous anticyclone over western ...North Pacific (WNPAC). It explains the formation mechanisms of the WNPAC and physical processes by which the WNPAC affects the rainfall in China. During the mature phase of El Niño, the convective cooling anomalies over western tropical Pacific caused by the weakened convections trigger up an atmospheric Rossby wave response, resulting in the generation of the WNPAC. The WNPAC can persist from the winter when the El Niño is in its peak to subsequent summer, which is maintained by multiple factors including the sustained presence of convective cooling anomalies and the local air-sea interaction over western tropical Pacific, and the persistence of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in tropical Indian and tropical North Atlantic. The WNPAC can influence the atmospheric circulations over East Asia and rainfall in China not only simultaneously, but also in the subsequent summer after an El Niño year, leading to more rainfall over southern China. The current paper also points out that significant anomalies of atmospheric circulations over East Asia and rainfall over southern China occur in El Niño winter but not in La Niña winter, suggesting that El Niño and La Niña have an asymmetric effect. Other issues, including the impact of El Niño diversity and its impact as well as the relations of the factors affecting the persistence of the WNPAC with summer rainfall anomalies in China, are also discussed. At the end of this paper some issues calling for further investigation are discussed.
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