Complex network of synchronous climate events in East Asian tree-ring data

Abstract

With high temporal resolution and accurate age control, tree-ring width is a good proxy for recording past climate variations from interannual to centennial time scales. The complex network method, widely used in analyses of modern meteorological observations, is an effective method to demonstrate synchronizations within climate events, thus revealing potential climate teleconnections. In this study, we tested to use the complex network in analyzing extremes recorded in time serials of tree-ring width in East Asia during the past 600 years. Our study indicates that this method is a valuable approach to reveal synchronizations in climate-sensitive tree-ring width records, though the ability of this method is dependent on the quality of the tree-ring data. Furthermore, our study shows stronger synchronizations in extremes of tree-ring width records during the CE 1850–1950 period in the Modern Warm Period than the CE 1450–1650 period in the Little Ice Age. A remarkable shift in synchronization types within the south part and the inland East Asia sites appears during the year CE 1850–1950. These changes in synchronizations suggest potential reorganizations in climate teleconnections, which is worthy being addressed in further studies with detrending and statistical significance testing methods involved.