6月21日,，《科學(xué)：新聞聚焦》（Science: News Focus）以“季風(fēng)之爭(zhēng)（Monsoon Melee）”為題報(bào)道了近期中美兩國科學(xué)家關(guān)于青藏高原影響季風(fēng)的爭(zhēng)論。
青藏高原熱力效應(yīng)對(duì)天氣氣候的影響一直是高原研究中的重要課題,。2010年,，耶魯大學(xué)的William R. Boos和哈佛大學(xué)的Zhiming Kuang在《自然》（Nature）上發(fā)表文章，認(rèn)為高原熱力作用對(duì)印度季風(fēng)形成并不重要,，提出了喜馬拉雅山阻擋干冷空氣形成印度陸面高的能量進(jìn)而導(dǎo)致印度季風(fēng)和對(duì)流層上層的暖中心在印度上空形成的觀點(diǎn),。2012年，中國科學(xué)院大氣物理研究所吳國雄院士等在Nature Publishing Group的《科學(xué)報(bào)告》（Scientific Reports）上發(fā)文,，證明了亞洲季風(fēng)主要是熱力驅(qū)動(dòng)的,，并指出Boos、Kuang文章中存在的問題,?！犊茖W(xué)》（Science）近日發(fā)表了Jane Qiu的文章，對(duì)這一爭(zhēng)論進(jìn)行了詳細(xì)報(bào)道,。文中還介紹了知名科學(xué)家美國佐治亞理工學(xué)院Peter Webster教授和英國帝國理工學(xué)院Brain Hoskins教授/爵士（中國科學(xué)院外籍院士）等對(duì)Boos,、Kuang觀點(diǎn)的異議。
青藏高原對(duì)天氣氣候的影響至今尚未為世人所充分認(rèn)識(shí),，這樣的學(xué)術(shù)爭(zhēng)論將有助于深入理解大地形的氣候效應(yīng),，對(duì)提高天氣預(yù)報(bào)和氣候預(yù)測(cè)準(zhǔn)確率大有好處。（生物谷Bioon.com）
Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.340.6139.1400
Monsoon Melee
Jane Qiu*
The textbook explanation for the Indian monsoon holds that warm air above the Tibetan plateau causes the annual deluge. Under the theory, first proposed in the 1950s, the difference in atmospheric temperatures between air over the plateau and over the Indian Ocean creates winds that suck moist air from the sea into the Indian subcontinent, causing rain. But some researchers now contend that heating of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, rather than Tibet, drives the monsoon, with the Himalayas creating a barrier that blocks cold, dry winds from the north. Contributing to the controversy is the fact that modeling climate in mountainous regions is notoriously difficult. How the matter is resolved could affect how scientists predict the start date and duration of the monsoon, as well as how it will respond to climate change.
