A study led by scientists in China has found a link between the sun’s 11-year cycle and summer rain in the country, identifying why drought conditions in the south and flooding in the north intensify during high solar years.
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The team studied precipitation patterns during the East Asian summer monsoon – particularly the intense mei yu or “plum rain” period – and found that the solar cycle influenced summer precipitation by modulating climate patterns and shifting the rain belt north.
“The summer precipitation pattern on a decadal timescale … can be attributed to the solar precipitation regime,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Climate on July 15.
The researchers said their study identified the influence of changes in the solar magnetic cycle over decades on China’s summer pattern of “south drought and north flooding”.
The findings of the researchers – from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Meteorological Administration, University of Science and Technology of China, and the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany – could be used to improve climate prediction and forecasting, particularly on longer-term scales.
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“It is well known that the positioning of the monsoon rain belt significantly influences the distribution of summer droughts and floods in China, making precipitation patterns a crucial focus for climate predictions during flood seasons,” the researchers said.