Fig. 2: Quantitative attribution of the 2022 central-eastern China mega-heatwave to multiple dynamical and radiative processes.

The energy perturbations (W m⁻²) of (a) land surface and (c) atmosphere attributed to the dynamical and radiative processes during the life cycle of the heatwave, and the radiative energy perturbations of (b) land surface and (d) atmosphere associated with different radiative processes. The abbreviations “RAD”, “LH”, “SH”, “H_adv”, and “V_adv” in (a) and (c) stand for the processes of radiation, surface latent heat flux, surface sensible heat flux, horizontal advection, and vertical advection, respectively. The abbreviations “SR”, “O₃”, “AL”, “T”, “WV”, “CLD”, “AER”, and “RES” in (b) and (d) stand for the processes of the changes in solar insolation, ozone, surface albedo, temperature, water vapor, cloud, aerosols, and residual, respectively. The black line in (a) and (c) denotes the total energy tendency (W m⁻²) of land surface and atmosphere, respectively. The black line in (b) and (d) represents the total energy tendency (W m⁻²) of land surface and atmosphere contributed by the radiative processes. The developing, mature, and decaying phases of the heatwave are marked by pale yellow, light pink, and light blue shadings. c and d Are the results of column integration from surface to 150 hPa.