地球环境研究所英文（2014改版）

Home | Contact | Chinese | CAS

Upcoming Events : UNESCO Lecture Series: Earth Materials for a Sustainable and Thriving Society

Staff

Details of the Faculty or Staff
Name	AN Zhisheng	Title	Professor
Highest Education	N/A	Office	No. 97 Yanxiang Road, Yanta District, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China , 710061
Phone	N/A	Zip Code	710061
Fax	N/A	Email	anzs@loess.llqg.ac.cn

Education and Appointments：

Research Interest：

Monsoon dynamics; Global change/sustainable development strategy on the Loess Plateau and western China; Urban air pollution control

An Zhisheng is a professor at the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he also serves as Honorary Director and Chair of the Academic Committee. He was elected as a member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, an international member of National Academy of Sciences, USA, and a fellow of American Geophysical Union. He is a Quaternary scientist and Earth system scientist with a long-standing commitment to research on Quaternary science, global change, atmospheric particulate pollution control, and ecological and environmental management strategies.

An has systematically revealed the relationship between the deposition and evolution of Chinese loess and climatic-environmental changes. He highlighted that the Chinese Loess records the Asian monsoon changes, inland aridification, and westerly climate shifts, apart from the history of global glacial-interglacial cycles, since the late Cenozoic. Therefore, Chinese loess, together with deep-sea sediments and polar ice cores, can be regarded as three pillars for global climate change studies. Particularly, the innovative Monsoon Control Theory of East Asian environmental change proposed by Prof. An challenged the dominant classical glacial cycle theory. This groundbreaking work was praised by John Kutzbach, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, as having "shed light on the climatic and environmental changes of a large region of East Asia."

By integrating observations and numerical simulations across past, present, and future, as well as at regional and global scales, An has pioneered a new paradigm in integrated Earth system science research. His studies have built up dynamic models of glacial-interglacial Indian summer monsoon, Asian monsoon, and global monsoon systems, emphasizing multi-sphere, multi-scale, and multi-factor interactions. Esteemed oceanographer Robert Duce and atmospheric scientist Renyi Zhang remarked, “An was among the first to propose the multiscale global monsoon dynamics… He has successfully connected the geological past and present climate dynamics by pioneering works on the monsoon control theory and multiscale global monsoon dynamics. His findings have led Asian Quaternary research into a new stage characterized by climatic dynamics and Earth system science.”

In 2024, An and his colleagues published a research article in Science, indicating the pivotal role of the growth of the Antarctic ice sheet and associated sea ice expansion for triggering the Mid-Pleistocene climate transition and providing insight into the rapid expansion of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheet since the middle Pleistocene. This finding emphasizes the profound and far-reaching impact of the asymmetric evolution of polar ice sheets on global climate.

He has taken the lead in proactively applying Earth system science achievements to formulate strategic consultation reports for the Chinese government, including the "Consultation Proposals on Ecological Environment Construction and Industrial Structure Adjustment in the Western Development of China", "Several Suggestions on Further Implementing the ‘Grain for Green Program’ of China Central Government in the Loess Plateau Region", "Current Status of PM2.5 Pollution in China and Suggestions for Its Control", "Suggestions on the Causes, Development Trends, Environmental Impacts, and Responses to Northern China's Haze Pollution", and "Suggestions on the Comprehensive Governance Strategy of the Ecological Environment of the Loess Plateau in the New Era". These reports have been highly valued and adopted by central or local governments, making significant contributions to the formulation of China's ecological and environmental policies and climate change strategies.

He has published over 480 SCI papers, including more than 30 articles in high-impact journals such as Science, Nature Portfolio, and PNAS. His work has been cited over 50,000 times according to Web of Science, with an H-index of 102, and he has been recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in Earth Sciences for several consecutive years. He has received six National Natural Science Awards of China, the highest Science and Technology Award of Shaanxi Province, China, the Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Tan Kah Kee Science Award in Earth Science, China, and numerous other national and international awards. Notably, in 2023, he was awarded the Roger Revelle Medal by the American Geophysical Union for his "exceptional contributions to understanding the global significance of Chinese loess, fundamental monsoon dynamics, and global climate changes, and for providing key international leadership."

He established the internationally renowned State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology and the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has mentored many leading talents in Earth system science, making outstanding contributions to advancing Earth system science in China and fostering sustainable societal development.

An was the first to propose the development strategy for Earth system science in China. He served as a member/vice chair of the Scientific Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and vice President of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA). He is regarded as a pioneer and foundational figure in elevating China’s Earth system science to the forefront of the international scientific community.

Public Services：

Honors：

Selected Publication：

(1)An, Z., Zhou, W., Zhang, Z., Zhang, X., Liu, Z., Sun, Y., Clemens, S.C., Wu, L., Zhao, J., Shi, Z., Ma, X., Yan, H., Li, G., Cai, Y., Yu, J., Sun, Y., Li, S., Zhang, Y.a., Stepanek, C., Lohmann, G., Dong, G., Cheng, H., Liu, Y., Jin, Z., Li, T., Hao, Y., Lei, J., Cai, W., 2024. Mid-Pleistocene climate transition triggered by Antarctic Ice Sheet growth. Science 385, 560–565.

(2) An, Z., Zhang, Z., 2022. Chinese loess: A key record of global changes. 2022. INQUA LoessFest, Abstract. P1-2.

(3) Sun, Y., McManus, J.F., Clemens, S.C., Zhang, X., Vogel, H., Hodell, D.A., Guo, F., Wang, T., Liu, X., An, Z., 2021. Persistent orbital influence on millennial climate variability through the Pleistocene. Nature Geoscience 14, 812-818.

(4) Ao, H., Dupont-Nivet, G., Rohling, E.J., Zhang, P., Ladant, J.-B., Roberts, A.P., Licht, A., Liu, Q., Liu, Z., Dekkers, M.J., Coxall, H.K., Jin, Z., Huang, C., Xiao, G., Poulsen, C.J., Barbolini, N., Meijer, N., Sun, Q., Qiang, X., Yao, J., An, Z., 2020. Orbital climate variability on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau across the Eocene–Oligocene transition. Nature Communications 11, 5249.

(5) Fang, X., An, Z., Clemens, S.C., Zan, J., Shi, Z., Yang, S., Han, W., 2020. The 3.6-Ma aridity and westerlies history over midlatitude Asia linked with global climatic cooling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, 24729-24734.

(6) Han, Y., An, Z., Marlon, J.R., Bradley, R.S., Zhan, C., Arimoto, R., Sun, Y., Zhou, W., Wu, F., Wang, Q., Burr, G.S., Cao, J., 2020. Asian inland wildfires driven by glacial–interglacial climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117, 5184-5189.

(7) Yan, H., Liu, C., An, Z., Yang, W., Yang, Y., Huang, P., Qiu, S., Zhou, P., Zhao, N., Fei, H., Ma, X., Shi, G., Dodson, J., Hao, J., Yu, K., Wei, G., Yang, Y., Jin, Z., Zhou, W., 2020. Extreme weather events recorded by daily to hourly resolution biogeochemical proxies of marine giant clam shells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117, 7038-7043.

(8) An, Z., Huang, R.-J., Zhang, R., Tie, X., Li, G., Cao, J., Zhou, W., Shi, Z., Han, Y., Gu, Z., Ji, Y., 2019. Severe haze in northern China: A synergy of anthropogenic emissions and atmospheric processes. Proceedings Of the National Academy Of Sciences Of the United States Of America 116, 8657-8666.

(9) Beck, JW; Zhou, WJ; Li, C; Wu, ZK; White, L; Xian, F; Kong, XH; An, Z., 2018. A 550,000-year record of East Asian monsoon rainfall from Be-10 in loess. Science 360, 877-881.

(10) An, Z., Wu, G., Li, J., Sun, Y., Liu, Y., Zhou, W., Cai, Y., Duan, A., Li, L., Mao, J., Cheng, H., Shi, Z., Tan, L., Yan, H., Ao, H., Chang, H., Feng, J., 2015. Global Monsoon Dynamics and Climate Change, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 43, 29-77.

(11) Cai, Y. J., Fung, I. Y., Edwards, R. L., An, Z. S., Cheng, H., Lee, J. E., Tan, L. C., Sheng, C. C., Wang, X. F., Day, J. A., Zhou, W. J., Kelly, M. J., and Chiang, J. C. H., 2015. Variability of stalagmite-inferred Indian monsoon precipitation over the past 252,000 y. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112, 2954-2959.

(12) An Z., et al., 2014. Late Cenozoic Climate Change in Asia Loess, Monsoon and Monsoon-arid Environment Evolution. Springer.

(13) An, Z., Colman, S.M., Zhou, W., Li, X., Brown, E.T., Jull, A.J.T., Cai, Y., Huang, Y., Lu, X., Chang, H., Song, Y., Sun, Y., Xu, H., Liu, W., Jin, Z., Liu, X., Cheng, P., Liu, Y., Ai, L., Li, X., Liu, X., Yan, L., Shi, Z., Wang, X., Wu, F., Qiang, X., Dong, J., Lu, F., Xu, X., 2012. Interplay between the Westerlies and Asian monsoon recorded in Lake Qinghai sediments since 32 ka. Scientific Reports 2.

(14) Sun, Y., Clemens, S.C., Morrill, C., Lin, X., Wang, X., An, Z., 2012. Influence of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation on the East Asian winter monsoon. Nature Geoscience 5, 46-49.

(15) An, Z., Clemens, S.C., Shen, J., Qiang, X., Jin, Z., Sun, Y., Prell, W.L., Luo, J., Wang, S., Xu, H., Cai, Y., Zhou, W., Liu, X., Liu, W., Shi, Z., Yan, L., Xiao, X., Chang, H., Wu, F., Ai, L., Lu, F., 2011. Glacial-Interglacial Indian Summer Monsoon Dynamics. Science 333, 719-723.

(16) Qiang, X., An, Z., Song, Y., Chang, H., Sun, Y., Liu, W., Ao, H., Dong, J., Fu, C., Wu, F., Lu, F., Cai, Y., Zhou, W., Cao, J., Xu, X., Ai, L., 2011. New eolian red clay sequence on the western Chinese Loess Plateau linked to onset of Asian desertification about 25 Ma ago. Science China Earth Sciences 51, 136-144.

(17) Wang, Y. J., Cheng, H., Edwards, R. L., Kong, X. G., Shao, X. H., Chen, S. T., Wu, J. Y., Jiang, X. Y., Wang, X. F., and An, Z. S., 2008. Millennial- and orbital-scale changes in the East Asian monsoon over the past 224,000 years. Nature 451, 1090-1093.

(18) Jickells, T. D., An, Z. S., Andersen, K. K., Baker, A. R., Bergametti, G., Brooks, N., Cao, J. J., Boyd, P. W., Duce, R. A., Hunter, K. A., Kawahata, H., Kubilay, N., laRoche, J., Liss, P. S., Mahowald, N., Prospero, J. M., Ridgwell, A. J., Tegen, I., and Torres, R., 2005. Global iron connections between desert dust, ocean biogeochemistry, and climate. Science 308, 67-71.

(19) Sun, Y., An, Z., 2004. An improved comparison of Chinese loess with deep-sea δ¹⁸O record over the interval 1.6-2.6 Ma. Geophysical Research Letters 31, L13210.

(20) An, Z., Kutzbach, J. E., Prell, W. L. and Porter, S. C., 2001. Evolution of Asian monsoons and phased uplift of the Himalaya-Tibetan plateau since Late Miocene times. Nature 411, 62-66.

(21) Wang, Y. J., Cheng, H., Edwards, R. L., An, Z. S., Wu, J. Y., Shen, C. C., and Dorale, J. A., 2001. A high-resolution absolute-dated Late Pleistocene monsoon record from Hulu Cave, China. Science 294, 2345-2348.

(22) An, Z., 2000. The history and variability of the East Asian paleomonsoon climate. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 171-187.

(23) An, Z., Porter, S., Kutzbach, J., Wu, X., Wang, S., Liu, X., Li, X., Zhou, W., 2000. Asynchronous Holocene optimum of the East Asian monsoon. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 743-762.

(24) An, Z., Thompson, L. G. Paleoclimatic change of monsoonal China linked to global change. In: Galloway, J. N. and Melillo J.M (eds.). 1998. Asian Change in the Context of Global Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 18-41.

(25) Porter, S. C., An, Z., 1995. Correlation between climate events in the North Atlantic and China during the last glaciation. Nature 375, 305-308.

(26) An, Z., Kukla, G., Porter, S.C., Xiao, J., 1991. Late quaternary dust flow on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Catena 18, 125-132.

(27) An, Z., Kukla, G., Porter, S., Xiao, J., 1991. Magnetic susceptibility evidence of monsoon variation on the Loess Plateau of central China during the last 130,000 years. Quaternary Research 36, 29-36.

(28) An, Z., Wu, X., Wang, P., Wang, S., Dong, G., Sun, X., Zhang, D., Lu, Y., Zheng, S., Zhao, S., 1991. Paleomonsoons of China over the past 130,000 years—Paleomonsoon records / Paleomonsoon variation. Science China Series. B 34, 1007-1015 / 1016-1024.

(29) Kukla, G., An, Z., 1989. Loess stratigraphy in central China. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 72, 203-225.

(30) An, Z., Liu, T., Lu, Y., Porter, S.C., Kukla, G., Wu, X., Hua, Y., 1990. The long-term paleomonsoon variation recorded by the loess-paleosol sequence in central China. Quaternary International 7, 91-95.

(31) Liu, T., An, Z., Yuan, B., Han, J., 1985. The Loess-Paleosol Sequence in China and Climatic History. Episodes 8, 21-28.

(32) An, Z., Lu, Y., 1984. A climatostraigraphic subdivision of the late Pleistocene strata named by Malan formation in North China. Science Bulletin 29, 1239-1242.

Supported Projects：

此页面上的内容需要较新版本的 Adobe Flash Player。