A Study of Future Changes of Climate Classification and Extreme Temperature Events over South Korea in Multi Regional Climate Model Simulations
Regional climate simulations for the CORDEX East Asia domain were conducted between 1981 and 2100 using five models to project future climate change based on RCP2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5 scenarios. By using the ensemble mean of five model results, future changes in climate zones and four extreme temperature events of South Korea were investigated according to Köppen-Trewartha’s classification criteria. The four temporal periods of historical (1981-2005), early future (2021-2040), middle future (2041-2070), and late future (2071-2100) were defined to examine future changes. The analysis domain was divided into 230 administrative districts of South Korea. In historical (1981-2005) period, the subtropical zones are only dominant in the southern coastal regions and Jeju island, while those tend to expand in the future periods. Depending on the RCP scenarios, the more radiative forcing results in the larger subtropical zone over South Korea in the future. The expansion of the subtropical zone in metropolitan areas is more evident than that in rural areas. In addition, the enlargement of the subtropical zone in coastal regions is more prominent than that of in inland regions. Particularly, the subtropical climate zone for the late future period of RCP8.5 scenario is significantly dominant in most South Korea. All scenarios show that cold related extreme temperature events are expected to decrease and hot related extreme temperature events to increase in late future. This study can be utilized by administrative districts for the strategic plan of responses to future climate change.