Editorial preface to special issue: Variability and driving mechanisms of Asian dust storms from the Holocene to the present

Abstract

Asian dust storms are an integral component of the Earth's biogeochemical and climate systems, and they exhibit pronounced spatiotemporal variability shaped by complex atmospheric and surface processes. This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) explores the variability and underlying mechanisms of Asian dust storms on sub-orbital to decadal timescales through the Holocene, and comprises 20 interdisciplinary studies. In this editorial preface, we synthesize the key findings of these studies and contextualize them within broader climatic and environmental frameworks. The main insights are as follows: (1) Contemporary observations indicate a rapid increase in dust storms across the Mongolia-China border, and these phenomena now comprise a dominant component of East Asian dust storm activity. This trend is linked to enhanced Mongolian cyclonic systems, land surface degradation, and synoptic-scale atmospheric features such as cut-off lows. (2) Holocene reconstructions based on loess and lake sediment records reveal contrasting controls across regions. In humid East Asian monsoon zones, dust storms are primarily governed by hydroclimate and vegetation dynamics, whereas in arid regions—including arid Central Asia and the Tibetan Plateau—dust activity is predominantly modulated by wind regimes due to sparse vegetation cover. (3) Dust storm mechanisms vary across timescales; for example, dust activity on the Tibetan Plateau is driven by the westerlies on a millennial timescale, but it shifts to East Asian winter monsoon on the centennial timescale. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of high-resolution archives and integrative approaches for resolving dust-climate interactions in the context of ongoing and future climate change.