Dust aerosols play key roles in affecting regional and global climate through their direct, indirect, and semi-direct effects. Dust events have decreased rapidly since the 1980s in East Asia, particularly over northern China, primarily because of changes in meteorological parameters (e.g. surface wind speed and precipitation). In this study, we found that winter (December–January–February) Arctic amplification associated with...

The relationship between the Palaeolithic–Neolithic cultural transition and environmental changes is important for understanding human history. However, the timing and nature of human behaviour at the transition, and their relationship to local environmental conditions, remain poorly understood. The Yujiagou archaeological site in the Nihewan Basin, northern China, provides valuable chronological and archaeological information...