| Over the past 25 years, on average 6-7 tropical cyclones made landfall on China mainland and Hainan Island with an average intensity of 29.9 m/s at landfall and retained their tropical cyclone intensity for 15.6 hours over land, leading to 505 deaths and 37 billion yuan in direct economic loss, which accounted for 0.4% of the annual GDP. Although there was little change in the overall landfall frequency, landfall intensity and overland time, the annual total direct economic loss increased significantly due to the rapid economic development over the past 25 years. Under the background of global warming, the intensity of tropical cyclones that made landfall on Hainan decreased, but the overland time and frequency of tropical cyclones that made landfall on Fujian and Zhejiang increased, respectively, over the past 25 years. At the national and provincial levels, the percentage of direct economic losses to GDP and deaths caused by landfall tropical cyclones decreased, suggesting the effectiveness of disaster prevention and reduction in China.Using daily precipitation observations at 514 meteorological stations over the period 1965-2009, this study investigates the primary features of TC rainfall in China, with a particular focus on the contribution of TC rainfall to changes in the precipitation climate and the average rainfall per TC under the background of global warming. TC rainfall mainly affected the eastern and southeastern half of China, accounting for more than 10% of the summer rainfall in the coastal provinces of South and Southeast China. Over the period 1965-2009, TC rainfall trended upward in the lower reach of the Yangtze River and southeastern China, enhancing the annual and summer rainfall in southeast China. The increasing TC rainfall was accompanied with the significant increasing trend in the average rainfall per TC, especially in Southeast China. Although TCs derive their primary energy from the condensation of water vapor, this study suggests that the increasing rainfall per TC did not concur with the enhanced TC intensity, which was suggested in previous studies. Since TC activity in the northern West Pacific basin is closely associated with the monsoon activity, it seems that understanding of the increasing rainfall per TC in China requests to investigate how the monsoon activity changes under the background of global warming and how the interaction affects TC rainfall structure. |
