LAUSR

The Indian and East Asian summer monsoons are two active components of the global monsoon system and are closely related. However, their relationship is weakened after the late 1970s. This study revisited the possible mechanism for the weakening relationship between Indian and central East Asian summer rainfall, focusing on the influence from the middle-to-high-latitude climate system. The results show that variability in the summer North Atlantic Oscillation since the late 1970s induces a zonal atmospheric teleconnection pattern, resulting in anomalous upper level atmospheric circulation south of the Baikal Lake, which is further closely related to central East Asian summer rainfall over the period after the late 1970s. When the signal of the atmospheric circulation variability south of the Baikal Lake is removed, the relationship between the Indian and central East summer rainfall becomes significant again over the period after the late 1970s. The summer North Atlantic Oscillation thus opposes the influence of the Indian summer rainfall on central East Asian summer rainfall, consequently contributing to the breakdown of the Indian–central East Asian summer rainfall relationship after the late 1970s.