1971-2000年青藏高原气候变化趋势

Trends of annual and monthly temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspi- ration and aridity index were analyzed to understand climate change during the period 1971–2000 over the Tibetan Plateau which is one of the most special regions sensitive to global climate change. FAO56–Penmen–Monteith model was modified to calculate potential evapotranspiration which integrated many climatic elements including maximum and mini- mum temperatures, solar radiation, relative humidity and wind speed. Results indicate gen- erally warming trends of the annual averaged and monthly temperatures, increasing trends of precipitation except in April and September, decreasing trends of annual and monthly poten- tial evapotranspiration, and increasing aridity index except in September. It is not the isolated climatic elements that are important to moisture conditions, but their integrated and simulta- neous effect. Moreover, potential evapotranspiration often changes the effect of precipitation on moisture conditions. The climate trends suggest an important warm and humid tendency averaged over the southern plateau in annual period and in August. Moisture conditions would probably get drier at large area in the headwater region of the three rivers in annual average and months from April to November, and the northeast of the plateau from July to September. Complicated climatic trends over the Tibetan Plateau reveal that climatic factors have nonlinear relationships, and resulte in much uncertainty together with the scarcity of observation data. The results would enhance our understanding of the potential impact of climate change on environment in the Tibetan Plateau. Further research of the sensitivity and attribution of climate change to moisture conditions on the plateau is necessary.     

中国陆地生态系统年实际蒸散量的空间格局及其影响因素（英文）

Understanding the spatial variation in annual actual evapotranspiration(AET) and its influencing factors is crucial for a better understanding of hydrological processes and water resources management. By synthesizing ecosystem-level observations of eddy-covariance flux sites in China(a total of 61 sites), we constructed the most complete AET dataset in China up to now. Based on this dataset, we quantified the statistic characteristics of AET and water budgets(defined as the ratio of AET to annual mean precipitation(MAP), AET/MAP) of terrestrial ecosystems in China. Results showed that AET differed significantly among both different vegetation types and climate types in China, with overall mean AET of 534.7±232.8 mm yr-1. AET/MAP also differed significantly among different climate types, but there were no distinct differences in AET/MAP values across vegetation types, with mean AET/MAP of 0.82±0.28 for non-irrigated ecosystems. We further investigated how the main climatic factors and vegetation attributes control the spatial variation in AET. Our findings revealed that the spatial variation of AET in China was closely correlated with the geographical patterns of climate and vegetation, in which the effects of total annual net radiation(Rn), MAP and mean annual air temperature(MAT) were dominant. Thus, we proposed an empirical equation to describe the spatial patterns of AET in China, which could explain about 84% of the spatial variation in AET of terrestrial ecosystems in China. Based on the constructed dataset, we also evaluated the uncertainties of five published global evapotranspiration products in simulatingsite-specific AET in China. Results showed that large biases in site-specific AET values existed for all five global evapotranspiration products, which indicated that it is necessary to involve more observation data of China in their parameterization or validation, while our AET dataset would provide a data source for it.     

Attribution analysis for water yield service based on the geographical detector method: A case study of the Hengduan Mountain region

Ecosystem services, which include water yield services, have been incorporated into decision processes of regional land use planning and sustainable development. Spatial pattern characteristics and identification of factors that influence water yield are the basis for decision making. However, there are limited studies on the driving mechanisms that affect the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem services. In this study, we used the Hengduan Mountain region in southwest China, with obvious spatial heterogeneity, as the research site. The water yield module in the In VEST software was used to simulate the spatial distribution of water yield. Also, quantitative attribution analysis was conducted for various geomorphological and climatic zones in the Hengduan Mountain region by using the geographical detector method. Influencing factors, such as climate, topography, soil, vegetation type, and land use type and pattern, were taken into consideration for this analysis. Four key findings were obtained. First, water yield spatial heterogeneity is influenced most by climate-related factors, where precipitation and evapotranspiration are the dominant factors. Second, the relative importance of each impact factor to the water yield heterogeneity differs significantly by geomorphological and climatic zones. In flat areas, the influence of evapotranspiration is higher than that of precipitation. As relief increases, the importance of precipitation increases and eventually, it becomes the most influential factor. Evapotranspiration is the most influential factor in a plateau climate zone, while in the mid-subtropical zone, precipitation is the main controlling factor. Third, land use type is also an important driving force in flat areas. Thus, more attention should be paid to urbanization and land use planning, which involves land use changes, to mitigate the impact on water yield spatial pattern. The fourth finding was that a risk detector showed that Primarosol and Anthropogenic soil areas, shrub areas, and areas with slope 5° and 25°–35° should be recognized as water yield important zones, while the corresponding elevation values are different among different geomorphological and climatic zones. Therefore, the spatial heterogeneity and influencing factors in different zones should be fully con-sidered while planning the maintenance and protection of water yield services in the Hengduan Mountain region.     

环境变化对中亚干旱区水储量变化的影响（英文）

The spatio-temporal pattern of the global water resource has significantly changed with climate change and intensified human activities. The regional economy and ecological environment are highly affected by terrestrial water storage(TWS), especially in arid areas. To investigate the response relationships between TWS and changing environments(climate change and human activities) in Central Asia, we used the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE) data, Climatic Research Unit(CRU) climate data and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) remote sensing data products(MOD16A2, MOD13A3 and MCD12Q1) from 2003 to 2013, as well as the slope and Pearson correlation analysis methods. Results indicate that:(1) TWS in about 77% of the study area decreased from 2003 to 2013. The total change volume of TWS is about 2915.6 × 108 m~3. The areas of decreased TWS are mainly distributed in the middle of Central Asia, while the areas of increased TWS are concentrated in the middle-altitude regions of the Kazakhstan hills and Tarim Basin.(2) TWS in about 5.91% of areas, mainly distributed in the mountain and piedmont zones, is significantly positively correlated with precipitation, while only 3.78% of areas show significant correlation between TWS and temperature. If the response time was delayed by three months, there would be a very good correlation between temperature and TWS.(3) There is a significantly positive relationship between TWS and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) in 13.35% of the study area.(4) The area of significantly positive correlation between TWS and evapotranspiration is about 31.87%, mainly situated in mountainous areas and northwestern Kazakhstan. The reduction of regional TWS is related to precipitation more than evaporation. Increasing farmland area may explain why some areas show increasing precipitation and decreasing evapotranspiration.(5) The influences of land use on TWS are still not very clear. This study could provide scientific data useful for the estimation of changes in TWS with climate change and human activities.     

Impact of global warming on drought in China

Spatial and temporal change patterns of air temperature (T), precipitation (P), relative humidity (RH), lower vapor pressure (VP), potential evapotranspiration (PET) and drought situation of 690 meteorological stations for all of China were evaluated in this study to understand the effects of warming on regional drought and hydrological processes. Here, the drought extent is expressed by aridity index (AI), which is the ratio of precipitation and reference crop evapotranspiration (ET₀) calculated by FAO Penman-Monteith equation, taking into account air temperature, atmospheric humidity, solar radiation, and wind. Our results indicate that there are different patterns of climate change from 1961 to 2008 and from 1981 to 2008. Little precipitation change occurred in China and ET₀ decreased from 1961 to 2008. But, the warming trend has intensified and the area with significant increasing precipitation has reduced since the early 1980’s and ET₀ has increased in most areas of China from 1981 to 2008 and decreased from 1961 to 2008. The areas affected by drought have shifted from North China and Northeast China to East China and South China since 1981. It is speculated that the increasing warming intensity after 1981 possibly strengthened the power of potential evapotranspiration and resulted in drought in most areas of Northeast China, North China, eastern Southwest China, and especially in East China and South China.     

阿克苏河流域气候变化对潜在蒸散量影响评价(英文)

Evapotranspiration is one of the key components of hydrological processes. Assessing the impact of climate factors on evapotranspiration is helpful in understanding the impact of climate change on hydrological processes. In this paper, based on the daily meteorological data from 1960 to 2007 within and around the Aksu River Basin, reference evapotranspiration (RET) was estimated with the FAO Penman-Monteith method. The temporal and spatial variations of RET were analyzed by using ARCGIS and Mann-Kendall method. Multiple Regression Analysis was employed to attribute the effects of the variations of air temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, vapour pressure and wind speed on RET. The results showed that average annual RET in the eastern plain area of the Aksu River Basin was about 1100 mm, which was nearly twice as much as that in the western mountainous area. The trend of annual RET had significant spatial variability. Annual RET was reduced significantly in the southeastern oasis area and southwestern plain area and increased slightly in the mountain areas. The amplitude of the change of RET reached the highest in summer, contributing most of the annual change of RET. Except in some high elevation areas where relative humidity predominated the change of the RET, the variations of wind velocity predominated the changes of RET almost throughout the basin. Taking Kuqa and Ulugqat stations as an example, the variations of wind velocity accounted for more than 50% of the changes of RET.     

1993-2017年气候变化对西藏谷物单产的定量影响

Climate change is a global environmental crisis, but there have been few studies of the effects of climate change on cereal yields on the Tibetan Plateau. We used data from meteorological stations and statistical yearbooks to assess the impacts of climate change on cereal yields in Tibet. Three types of statistical models were selected: fixed-effects model, first-difference models, and linear detrending models. We analyzed the impacts of climate change(including the minimum temperature, precipitation, growing degree days and solar radiation) on cereal yields in Tibet from 1993 to 2017 at the county, prefecture-level city, and autonomous region scales. The results showed that the sensitivity of cereal yields in Tibet to temperature(minimum temperature and growing degree days) was greater than their sensitivity to precipitation and solar radiation. The joint impacts of climate variables were positive, but the sensitivity and significance varied in different regions. The impacts of minimum temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation were positive in all cities, apart from the negative impacts of growing degree days on cereal yields in Lhasa. The impacts of climate trends on cereal yields in Tibet were positive and the results were in the range of 1.5%–4.8%. Among the three types of model, the fixed-effects model was the most robust and the linear detrending model performed better than the first-difference model. The robustness of the first-difference model decreased after adding the interaction terms between different climate variables. Our findings will help in implementing more spatially targeted agricultural adaptations to cope with the impacts of climate change on the agro-ecosystem of the Tibetan Plateau.     

江河源区NDVI时空变化及其与气候因子的关系(英文)

The source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers are important water conservation areas of China. In recent years, ecological deterioration trend of the source regions caused by global climate change and unreasonable resource development increased gradually. In this paper, the spatial distribution and dynamic change of vegetation cover in the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers are analyzed in recent 10 years based on 1-km resolution multitemporal SPOTVGT-DN data from 1998 to 2007. Meanwhile, the correlation relationships between air temperature, precipitation, shallow ground temperature and NDVI, which is 3×3 pixel at the center of Wudaoliang, Tuotuohe, Qumalai, Maduo, and Dari meteorological stations were analyzed. The results show that the NDVI values in these two source regions are increasing in recent 10 years. Spatial distribution of NDVI which was consistent with hydrothermal condition decreased from southeast to northwest of the source regions. NDVI with a value over 0.54 was mainly distributed in the southeastern source region of the Yellow River, and most NDVI values in the northwestern source region of the Yangtze River were less than 0.22. Spatial changing trend of NDVI has great difference and most parts in the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers witnessed indistinct change. The regions with marked increasing trend were mainly distributed on the south side of the Tongtian River, some part of Keqianqu, Tongtian, Chumaer, and Tuotuo rivers in the source region of the Yangtze River and Xingsuhai, and southern Dari county in the source region of the Yellow River. The regions with very marked increasing tendency were mainly distributed on the south side of Tongtian Rriver and sporadically distributed in hinterland of the source region of the Yangtze River. The north side of Tangula Range in the source region of the Yangtze River and Dari and Maduo counties in the source region of the Yellow River were areas in which NDVI changed with marked decreasing tendency. The NDVI change was980 Journal of Geographical Sciences positively correlated with average temperature, precipitation and shallow ground temperature. Shallow ground temperature had the greatest effect on NDVI change, and the second greatest factor influencing NDVI was average temperature. The correlation between NDVI and shallow ground temperature in the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers increased significantly with the depth of soil layer.     

1958-2017年长江流域气候变化的时空特征与热点区域

The Yangtze River Watershed in China is a climate change hotspot featuring strong spatial and temporal variability;hence, it poses a certain threat to social development. Identifying the characteristics of and regions vulnerable to climate change is significantly important for formulating adaptive countermeasures. However, with regard to the Yangtze River Watershed, there is currently a lack of research on these aspects from the perspective of natural and anthropogenic factors. To address this issue, in this study, based on the temperature and precipitation records from 717 meteorological stations, the RClim Dex and random forest models were used to assess the spatiotemporal characteristics of climate change and identify mainly the natural and anthropogenic factors influencing climate change hotspots in the Yangtze River Watershed for the period 1958-2017. The results indicated a significant increasing trend in temperature, a trend of wet and dry polarization in the annual precipitation, and that the number of temperature indices with significant variations was 2.8 times greater than that of precipitation indices. Significant differences were also noted in the responses of the climate change characteristics of the sub-basins to anthropogenic and natural factors;the delta plain of the Yangtze River estuary exhibited the most significant climate changes, where 88.89% of the extreme climate indices varied considerably. Furthermore, the characteristics that were similar among the identified hotpots, including human activities(higher Gross Domestic Product and construction land proportions) and natural factors(high altitudes and large proportions of grassland and water bodies), were positively correlated with the rapid climate warming.     

Effect of climatic change on surface environments in the typical region of Horqin Sandy Land

The town of Agura,a typical region in Horqin Sandy Land,was selected as the study area in this paper.Using 12 remote sensing images and climatic data from the past 20 years,the effects of climate change on surface environments were analyzed.The impact indices of climatic factors,along with their corresponding ranks,were used to characterize the responses of different types of surface environments to climate change.Results show that in the past 20 years,the surface environments of the study area have been deteriorating.Furthermore,there is a positive relationship between the changes in surface environments and those in climatic factors.Various climatic factors influence surface environments in different ways and at different levels.The most sensitive factor is relative humidity,followed by precipitation and evaporation.Overall,moisture is the key factor that affects the changes in surface environments of arid and semi-arid areas.     

1981-2010 年气候变化对青藏高原实际蒸散的影响

基于1981-2010 年青藏高原80 个气象台站观测数据, 通过改进的LPJ 动态植被模型, 模拟并分析了青藏高原实际蒸散及其与降水的平衡关系(P-E) 的时空变化。研究结果表明, 在过去三十年来青藏高原气候呈现以变暖为主要特征的背景下, 降水量整体略有增加, 潜在蒸散呈减少趋势, 特别是2000 年以前减少趋势显著;青藏高原大部分地区实际蒸散呈增加趋势, P-E的变化趋势呈西北增加-东南减少的空间格局。大气水分蒸散发能力降低理论上会导致实际蒸散减少, 而青藏高原大部分地区实际蒸散增加, 主要影响因素是降水增加, 实际蒸散呈增加(减少) 趋势的区域中86% (73%) 的降水增加(减少)。     

近20 a中亚净初级生产力与实际蒸散发特征分析

中亚碳、水循环在气候变异和人为活动的影响下呈现新的时空特征。但由于观测数据稀缺,生态过程特殊,植被、土壤空间异质性强,中亚植被净初级生产力(NPP)、实际蒸散发(AET)的时空特征相关信息相对不足,且时效性不高。利用全球尺度的NPP、AET、土地覆被数据,气象站点与区域气候数据分析近20 a中亚地区NPP和AET的时空特征。结果表明：与1990年相比,2000年中亚地区农田NPP增幅小于自然植被,植被总固碳量增加了254.65 Tg C;近20 a中亚地区实际总蒸散量先增后降,农田对中亚水资源散失的贡献减小,自然植被的贡献增大,自然植被与农田面积变化决定中亚总蒸散量动态;北部农田区、东部山区及山前绿洲为NPP和AET的高值区,中西部荒漠为低值区。     

青藏高原降水季节分配的空间变化特征

青藏高原是全球气候变化影响的敏感区域。在全球气候变暖的背景下,其水文气候过程发生了显著的变化,直接影响到区域水资源演化。然而,目前对该区域水文气候过程的时空演变规律仍认识不足。本文以青藏高原气象站点降水观测数据为基准,结合水汽通量资料,对13种不同源降水数据集质量进行对比分析;并选用质量较好的IGSNRR数据集识别了青藏高原降水季节分配特征的空间分布格局。结果表明,青藏高原东南、西南以及西北边缘地区降水集中度和集中期较小,夏季降水占全年降水比例不足50%;随着逐渐向高原腹地推进,降水集中度和集中期逐渐增大,雨季逐渐缩短且推迟,雨季降水占全年降水比例逐渐增大。降水季节分配的空间分布格局与水汽运移方向保持一致,即主要是由西风和印度洋季风的影响所致。基于此,识别出西风的影响区域主要位于高原35°N以北,印度洋季风的影响区域主要位于高原约30°N以南,而高原中部(30°N~35°N)降水受到西风和印度洋季风的共同影响。该结果有助于进一步理解和认识青藏高原水文气候过程空间差异性。     

Spatial variation in annual actual evapotranspiration of terrestrial ecosystems in China: Results from eddy covariance measurements

Understanding the spatial variation in annual actual evapotranspiration (AET) and its influencing factors is crucial for a better understanding of hydrological processes and water resources management. By synthesizing ecosystem-level observations of eddy-covariance flux sites in China (a total of 61 sites), we constructed the most complete AET dataset in China up to now. Based on this dataset, we quantified the statistic characteristics of AET and water budgets (defined as the ratio of AET to annual mean precipitation (MAP), AET/MAP) of terrestrial ecosystems in China. Results showed that AET differed significantly among both different vegetation types and climate types in China, with overall mean AET of 534.7±232.8 mm yr^-1. AET/MAP also differed significantly among different climate types, but there were no distinct differences in AET/MAP values across vegetation types, with mean AET/MAP of 0.82±0.28 for non-irrigated ecosystems. We further investigated how the main climatic factors and vegetation attributes control the spatial variation in AET. Our findings revealed that the spatial variation of AET in China was closely correlated with the geographical patterns of climate and vegetation, in which the effects of total annual net radiation (R _n), MAP and mean annual air temperature (MAT) were dominant. Thus, we proposed an empirical equation to describe the spatial patterns of AET in China, which could explain about 84% of the spatial variation in AET of terrestrial ecosystems in China. Based on the constructed dataset, we also evaluated the uncertainties of five published global evapotranspiration products in simulating site-specific AET in China. Results showed that large biases in site-specific AET values existed for all five global evapotranspiration products, which indicated that it is necessary to involve more observation data of China in their parameterization or validation, while our AET dataset would provide a data source for it.     

近10 a青藏高原干湿状况及其与植被变化的关系研究

植被是陆地生态系统中最重要、同时也是气候变化最敏感的组分,而高原植被系统行为往往比其他地区能更早、更明显地预兆全球变化。探讨青藏高原区域干湿状况及其与植被变化的关系有助于更好地认识和理解陆地生态系统对气候变化的响应和适应机理,对高原生态安全屏障计划的实施以及全球生态建设有重要意义。基于地面气象台站观测数据和MODIS EVI数据集,2001-2010年生长季干湿状况和植被覆盖的时空变化格局,对青藏高原干湿状况与植被覆盖变化的关系进行了分析与探讨。结果表明：（1）高原整体上呈现由东南向西北渐干的趋势,干旱及半干旱区占高原总面积的67%。10 a间高原有25%的区域在逐渐变干,且南北差异明显;（2）高原生长季EVI的空间格局与干湿格局相近,且东西部界线分明。10 a间高原植被活动由东南向西北整体上呈现“退化-增强-变化不大”的规律;（3）区域干湿程度对EVI空间格局差异有显著影响,特别是在占高原面积44%的半干旱区,两者相关性最大。人为干扰对高原EVI变化的作用不明显,但EVI与干湿程度相关性相对偏小的区域人为干扰程度往往较大;（4）从高原96个气象站点生长季[EVI]对干燥度指数变化的敏感性来看,敏感程度较大的气象站点主要集中在高原东北部、高原中部及雅鲁藏布江中上游区域,60%以上的气象站点随着干旱程度的加深植被呈退化趋势。     

Influences of environmental changes on water storage variations in Central Asia

The spatio-temporal pattern of the global water resource has significantly changed with climate change and intensified human activities. The regional economy and ecological environment are highly affected by terrestrial water storage (TWS), especially in arid areas. To investigate the variation of TWS and its influencing factors under changing environments, the response relationships between TWS and changing environments (climate change and human activities) in Central Asia have been analyzed based on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data, Climatic Research Unit (CRU) climate data and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) remote sensing data products (MOD16A2, MOD13A3 and MCD12Q1) from 2003 to 2013. The slope and Pearson correlation analysis methods were used. Results indicate that: (1) TWS in about 77 % of the study area has decreased from 2003 to 2013. The total change volume of TWS is about 2915.6 × 10⁸ m³. The areas of decreased TWS are mainly distributed in the middle of Central Asia, while the areas of increased TWS are concentrated in the middle-altitude regions of the Kazakhstan hills and Tarim Basin. (2) TWS in about 5.91% of areas, mainly distributed in the mountain and piedmont zones, is significantly positively correlated with precipitation, while only 3.78% of areas show significant correlation between TWS and temperature. If the response time was delayed by three months, there would be a very good correlation between temperature and TWS. (3) There is a significantly positive relationship between TWS and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in 13.35% of the study area. (4) The area of significantly positive correlation between TWS and evapotranspiration is about 31.87%, mainly situated in mountainous areas and northwestern Kazakhstan. The reduction of regional TWS is related to precipitation more than evaporation. Increasing farmland area may explain why some areas show increasing precipitation and decreasing evapotranspiration. (5) The influences of land use on TWS are still not very clear. This study could provide scientific data useful for the estimation of changes in TWS with climate change and human activities.     

过去30年气候变化对黄河源区水源涵养量的影响

黄河源区高寒生态系统具有重要的水源涵养功能。基于改进的LPJ动态植被模型,模拟研究1981-2010年中国黄河源区水源涵养量的时空变化特征,进一步探讨气候要素变化的影响。结果表明：近30年来黄河源区水源涵养量整体略呈减少趋势,减少速率为-1.15 mm/a,区域差异特征体现为大部分地区以减少趋势为主,特别是黄河源区东南部。过去30年黄河源区降水量以及大气水分需求能力的变化是影响生态系统水源涵养量增减的主要气候因素。随着干湿条件不同,两者影响程度各异,降水减少和潜在蒸散增加共同导致黄河源区东南部半湿润地区水源涵养量减少,而降水增加则是北部半干旱地区水源涵养量增加的主要原因。     

气候与地表覆被变化对梭磨河流域水文影响的分析

分析了1960～1990年长江上游梭磨河流域气候和地表覆被变化及其对流域水文的影响。30年来，流域降水有所增加，有林地面积1957～1974年大幅下降，以后有所回升。有林地每公顷蓄积量由1957年的423m^3下降到1998年的177m^3，40年来林地质量不断下降，流域水文发生了明显的变化；年均流量自1972年以来不断上升，洪水频率、洪峰流量和土壤侵蚀模糊明显增加。     

Climatic trends over the Tibetan Plateau during 1971-2000

Trends of annual and monthly temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspi-ration and aridity index were analyzed to understand climate change during the period 1971–2000 over the Tibetan Plateau which is one of the most special regions sensitive to global climate change. FAO56–Penmen–Monteith model was modified to calculate potential evapotranspiration which integrated many climatic elements including maximum and mini-mum temperatures, solar radiation, relative humidity and wind speed. Results indicate gen-erally warming trends of the annual averaged and monthly temperatures, increasing trends of precipitation except in April and September, decreasing trends of annual and monthly poten-tial evapotranspiration, and increasing aridity index except in September. It is not the isolated climatic elements that are important to moisture conditions, but their integrated and simulta-neous effect. Moreover, potential evapotranspiration often changes the effect of precipitation on moisture conditions. The climate trends suggest an important warm and humid tendency averaged over the southern plateau in annual period and in August. Moisture conditions would probably get drier at large area in the headwater region of the three rivers in annual average and months from April to November, and the northeast of the plateau from July to September. Complicated climatic trends over the Tibetan Plateau reveal that climatic factors have nonlinear relationships, and resulte in much uncertainty together with the scarcity of observation data. The results would enhance our understanding of the potential impact of climate change on environment in the Tibetan Plateau. Further research of the sensitivity and attribution of climate change to moisture conditions on the plateau is necessary.