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Nature 421, 324-325 (23 January 2003) | doi:10.1038/421324a

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Global change: Monsoon linkages

Rainer Zahn

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An excellent sediment record from the Arabian Sea traces recent patterns in the activity of the Asian monsoon. It reveals both variability in monsoon strength and links with climatic events elsewhere.

The monsoon is the main determinant of environmental conditions over much of Asia, and so affects the most densely populated region on Earth. Differential heating of the north Indian Ocean and the northwest Pacific, and of the Asian land-mass, cause the seasonal reversal of monsoon winds.