The South Asian summer monsoon has long been known to shape the Mediterranean climate thousands of kilometers away as part of a phenomenon known as the “monsoon–desert” mechanism. Through this mechanism, intense monsoon convection during the summer releases large amounts of heat into the atmosphere, triggering large-scale circulation changes that promote sinking air over the Mediterranean. This process suppresses clouds and rainfall and contributes to the Mediterranean region’s hot, dry climate.
Warming weakens Asian monsoon's reach into the Mediterranean
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