西北地区农业旱灾与预测研究

西北地区干旱灾害在中国乃至世界上具有代表性,常常对农业生产、社会经济和人民生活带来巨大威胁。利用西北五省区(陕西、甘肃、宁夏、青海、新疆)1951～2000年的50年农业旱灾面积统计资料,分析了农业旱灾的时空强度变化。表明西北地区农业旱灾有增加趋势,以20世纪90年代增加最明显。利用西北地区均匀分布的40个站点50年的降水和气温资料,采用变换的Z指数法,探讨了干旱强度和地表径流量的时间变化与西北地区农业旱害的关系。表明降水量的减少及河川径流枯期与农业旱灾面积负相关关系密切。应用波谱分析与逐步自回归方法,分别建立了西北地区干旱指数的拟合回归预测模型,农业旱灾面积、成灾面积和绝收面积预测模型,并对西北地区干旱灾害的趋势进行了预测。表明西北地区干旱灾害在21世纪前十年有所减缓。经检验,模型预测效果良好,根据预测结果可以采取有针对性的减灾措施,减少西北地区农业灾害损失。     

甘肃省农业干旱灾害损失特征及其对气候变暖的响应

随着全球气候变暖,干旱频次和强度增大,粮食生产与安全面临严重的挑战。利用1960-2012年甘肃省农业干旱灾情和气象资料,分析不同干旱程度的农业受灾率、成灾率和绝收率变化特征,并构建了农业干旱灾害风险指数(农业干旱综合损失率),揭示了甘肃农业干旱灾害损失特征及其对气候变暖的响应,讨论了关键时段气象条件对灾害损失的影响,阐述干旱灾害损失在气温和降水气候态中的分布特征,模拟出农业干旱受灾程度的气象阈值,并对未来情景下干旱灾害风险进行预测。结果表明:甘肃省近50多年农业干旱灾害范围、程度和频次均呈增加趋势,粮食受干旱灾害减产的风险加大。受灾率、成灾率、绝收率和综合损失率均呈明显上升趋势,尤其是20世纪90年代气温突变以后干旱灾害损失增大的趋势更明显。21世纪00年代干旱增幅最大,干旱受灾率、成灾率、绝收率和综合损失率均高于全国平均水平。多年平均综合损失率为10.8%,约为全国平均值(5.1%)的2倍。气温和降水量是甘肃农业干旱灾害损失的关键致灾因子,并且关键时段降水量和气温对干旱灾害的影响比全年平均值更加明显,年降水量每减少100 mm,综合损失率增加5.6%。年平均气温每升高1 ℃时,综合损失率增加6.3%。年平均气温6.45 ℃和年降水量460 mm是干旱高风险的临界值。未来气候变暖情境下,甘肃综合损失率增幅将可能达到1.85倍,气候变暖导致农业干旱灾害风险加大。     

20世纪下半叶干旱对新疆农业的影响及灾害链效应

利用历史灾害数据对20世纪下半叶新疆农业的干旱影响及灾害链效应进行了评价。同时对干旱灾害的时间特征也做了分析。结果表明,1950-2001年的52年里,新疆年平均农田旱灾成灾面积为109.25×103hm2,其中.2000年最高达312.0×103hm2,1950年最低仅为2.01×103hm2。1950-1997年48年年平均受灾人口与减产粮食分别为285.63×103人和174.85×103t。从1950-2001年,新疆农田成灾面积大致上呈上升趋势,虽然其间也有暂时的下降时段,即20世纪70年代早期和90年代早期。1950-1997年受旱人口和减产粮食也存在大致的上升趋势。有两个时期(20世纪60年代和80年代到90年代早期)干旱灾害相对较严重。另外,还发现干旱灾害与沙尘天气和草原蝗灾有明显的相关性,表现出了明显的干旱灾害链性。本评价的结果暗示干旱及其相关灾害的增多可能意味着天气和气候极端事件的增多;20世纪80年代中期以来,尽管区域年降水和径流量的增多对减轻干旱及其灾害具有很大的正效应,但由于降水和径流的年内分布不均匀性,加上耕地向易旱区的扩张,区域干旱灾害还是比较严重,并表现出了与降水和径流增加不一致的趋势。     

农业旱灾研究进展

农业旱灾是我国发生范围最广、频率最高、灾情和影响最严重的灾害。为了全面地认识旱灾,有效地进行旱灾风险管理,减轻旱灾损失和影响,该文对干旱指标与监测、干旱影响、旱灾评估、旱灾区域分异规律、减灾管理等方面的国内外研究进展进行了综述。     

1961~2010年中国农业洪旱灾害时空特征、成因及影响

搜集并分析了全国29个省份（不包括港、澳、台地区）1961~2010年农业洪旱灾害数据,深入探讨了中国洪旱灾害时空变异规律及其对粮食产量的影响。研究结果表明：中国大部分省份农业洪涝、干旱灾害具有明显的突变和趋势特征。中国中部、中西部及西北部洪涝灾害呈显著上升趋势;西北、东北地区及云南等地区干旱灾害呈显著上升趋势。除华北和东北地区外,洪涝灾害对农业的威胁日益严峻,而干旱灾害则无显著变化。这对中国粮食安全形成了重大挑战,尤其是西部以及北部地区粮食灾损率和灾损量显著上升。降水时空分布发生变化以及人类活动共同影响了中国农业洪涝、干旱时空变化特征。     

近40a甘肃省气象灾害对社会经济的影响

利用甘肃省近40 a的气温、降水、各种气象灾害和各种灾情、经济指标资料,分析了甘肃气候对全球气候变暖的响应、气象灾害对社会经济和农业的影响。得出全省平均气温为增温趋势;降水河西(以黄河为界)为增加趋势,河东减少趋势;干旱20世纪90年代在增加,而沙尘暴、冰雹、暴雨90年代在减少;极端气候事件增加;气象灾害对农业的影响明显,气象灾害受灾总面积与粮食单产呈明显的负相关,尤以干旱灾害对全省粮食产量的影响更为显著;洪灾造成的直接经济损失增加。     

非洲旱灾的时序变化及健康风险评估

为分析25 a 来非洲旱灾的时间变化趋势及其对各国人口健康的风险,利用1990―2014 年国际灾害数据库（EM-DAT）数据对非洲干旱灾害发生次数、百万人口受影响人数等进行统计,分析其年际变化规律;基于灾害风险评估危险性、暴露性、脆弱性、抗灾能力4 要素,建立非洲旱灾健康风险评估模型,并结合非洲旱灾的主要健康效应,建立多指标综合评价体系,确定权重,对各国旱灾健康风险进行定量评估。结果表明：1）受全球气候变化和大尺度环流异常的影响,非洲干旱灾害发生次数呈波动上升趋势。2）霍乱、营养不良作为旱灾的主要健康效应,主要与旱灾发生频次、影响人数、人口总量、获改善饮用水人口比例、获改善卫生设施人口比例、15 岁以下儿童比例、农村人口比例、政府稳定等自然、社会经济因素有关。3）旱灾发生频次较高的地区危险性较大,对人体健康威胁较严重,而人口总量较大的国家对旱灾暴露量较大,增加了健康风险。改水改厕可提高饮 用水的卫生条件,既减小霍乱与其他水传疾病的流行,也对减少营养不良率起着至关重要的作用。政府稳定度高是国家防灾、抗灾能力建设的基本保障,而农村人口比例、15 岁以下儿童比例为粮食不安全的主要脆弱人群,受灾害健康威胁相对较大。4）从西非马里、尼日尔向东延伸至东非之角的索马里,再向南至南非,因旱灾发生频率高、人口暴露量大、脆弱性大且应灾能力相对较弱,成为旱灾健康风险较高地区。     

泾洛河流域元代干旱灾害初步研究

通过对泾洛河流域元代历史资料的搜集、整理和分析,对该时期泾洛河流域干旱灾害等级、干旱灾害事件在时间上的变化及其成因进行了研究。结果表明:泾洛河流域从元代早期(公元1266年)~元代晚期(公元1359年)的94年中,共发生干旱灾害29次,平均每3.2年发生一次;泾洛河流域元代的干旱灾害主要以轻度旱灾为主,占旱灾总数的44.8%,其次是中度旱灾,占旱灾总数的37.9%,特大旱灾的发生频率也较高,占旱灾总数的13.8%,大旱灾发生频率最低,占旱灾总数的3.5%。泾洛河流域旱灾在元代早、中、晚期分布不均匀,从早期到中期再到晚期,干旱灾害呈现出由少变多又变少的趋势。该区旱灾以夏旱最多,春旱次之,春夏连旱与春夏秋冬四季连旱的发生频次也较高,仅次于春旱。降水量的年内分布不均匀是该区在元代发生轻度和中度干旱灾害的主要原因,而气候的异常明显变干是该区在元代中期干旱灾害加剧和大旱灾频繁发生的主要原因。初步认为泾洛河流域元代发生了1次干旱气候事件,时间在1326~1332年。     

气候变暖背景下1961—2010年宁夏旱涝灾害空间分布特征和变化规律

利用宁夏20个气象站1961—2010年实测气象资料,采用线性趋势分析、Mann-Kendall非参数检验、标准化降水指数等数理分析方法,对宁夏近50年旱涝灾害时空变化特征进行分析。结果表明:①1961—2010年宁夏气候暖干化趋势明显,增温速率为0.38 ℃/10a,远高于全国和西北地区;②1961—2010年宁夏降水量波动减少且具有整体性,雨量带明显南移,干旱、半干旱区域逐年扩大。③1961—2010年宁夏旱涝灾害交替发生,干旱化趋势明显。④在旱灾方面,宁夏南部山区旱灾频率相对较低,从南向北旱灾频率逐渐上升。北部灌溉区以轻微干旱为主,严重干旱和极端干旱主要发生在中部干旱区。⑤在涝灾方面,宁夏南部山区涝灾相对较少,依然呈现由南向北涝灾频率逐渐上升的空间格局。中等以上涝灾南部山区相对较多,严重湿润和极端湿润主要发生在北部引黄灌溉区。     

灌溉农区农业旱灾系统脆弱性诊断与评估——以暖温带半湿润地区河北邢台县为例

农业旱灾脆弱性的存在是干旱成灾的主要原因。文章明晰了农业旱灾脆弱性的概念和表现形式,分析了导致和影响农业旱灾系统脆弱性的主要因素,提出了脆弱性诊断思路,建立了以生产过程和生活过程为基础的旱灾脆弱性评估指标体系与模型,并以河北省邢台县为例进行了评估。研究表明。降水波动是干旱致灾的自然压力;而人口食物需求导致的土地利用强度过高,农业需水总量持续严重超过水资源承载力是干旱致灾的根源,人均耕地资源限制、收入水平低和应对能力差强化了旱灾脆弱性,加剧了旱灾风险。     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Development and Environment in Peninsular Malaysia . S. Robert Aiken, Colin H. Leigh, Thomas R. Leinbach, Michael R. Moss. The Rural-Urban Fringe: Canadian Perspectives . Ken B. Beesley and Lorne H. Russwurm, eds. Women and Development . Lourdes Benería, ed. The Border that Joins: Mexican Migrants and U.S. Responsibility . Peter G. Brown and Henry Shue, eds. Cities of the World: World Regional Urban Development . Stanley D. Brunn and Jack L. Williams, eds. Time Resources, Society, and Ecology: On the Capacity for Human Interaction in Space and Time (Vol. I, Preindustrial Societies). Tommy Carlstein. Urban Geography . David Clark. Spanish City Planning in North America . Dora P. Crouch, Daniel J. Garr, and Axel I. Mundigo. Not On Our Street: Community Attitudes to Mental Health Care . M. J. Dear and S. M. Taylor Unequal growth: Urban and Regional Employment Change in the U.K. Stephen Fothergill and Graham Gudgin. Agricultural Land in an Urban Society . Owen J. Furuseth and John T. Pierce. The Petroleum Industry in Oil-Importing Developing Countries . Fariborz Ghadar. Historical Understanding in Geography, An Idealist Approach . Leonard Guelke. Regional Planning in Europe . R. Hudson and J. R. Lewis, eds. Remote Sensing for Resource Management . Chris J. Johannsen and James L. Sanders, eds. Geography and The State . R. J. Johnston. Texas Graveyards: a Cultural Legacy . Tlrry G. Jordan. The Politics of Location: An Introduction . Andrew Kirby. A Social Geography of the City . David Ley. Energy and the Future . Douglas MacLean and Peter Brown, eds. The Natural Environment of Newfoundland Past and Present . A. G. Macpherson and J. B. Macpherson, eds. Tourism: Economic, Physical and Social Impacts . Alister Mathieson and Geoffrey Wall. Railroads and Land Grant Policy: A Study in Government Intervention . Lloyd J. Mercer. Progress in Rural Geography . Michael Pacione, ed. Progress in Urban Geography . Michael Pacione, ed. Models of Spatial Inequality: Settlement Patterns in Historical Archaeology . Robert Paynter. Natural Hazard Risk Assessment and Public Policy, Anticipating the Unexpected . William J. Petak and Arthur A. Atkisson. The Nature of Geomorphology . Alistair F. Pitty. Regional Conflict and National Policy . Kent A. Price Women and Spatial Change: Learning Resources for Social Science Courses . Arlene C. Rengert and Janice J. Monk, eds. Urban and Regional Analysis for Development Planning . Richard Rhoda. Rivers: Form and Process in Alluvial Channels . Keith Richards. This Remarkable Continent: An Atlas of United States and Canadian Society and Culture . John F. Rooney, Jr., Wilbur Zelinsky, and Dean R. Louder, gen. eds. The Origins of Open-Field Agriculture . Trevor Rowley, ed. Residential Location Determinants of the Older Population . Gundars Rudzitis. Borderland Sourcebook: A Guide to the Literature on Northern Mexico and the American Southwest . Ellwyn R. Stoddard, Richard L. Nostrand, and Jonathan P. West, eds. Arctic and Antarctic . David Sugden. Tall Timbers Ecology and Management Conference, February 22–24, 1979, Proceedings No. 16 . Graphic Communication and Design in Contemporary Cartography (Progress in Contemporary Cartography , Vol. II). D. R. Fraser Taylor, ed. Living with Energy Shortfall: A Future for American Towns and Cities . Jon Van Til. The United States: Habitation of Hope . J. Wreford Watson. Air Photo Interpretation for Archaeologists . D. R. Wilson. Urban and Rural Change in West Germany . Trevor Wild, ed. Population and Resources . Harry Robinson.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Geography and the Third World. International Seminar, 14–18 May 1980, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . Ishmail Ahmad and Jamaluddin Md Jahi, eds. The Growth Dilemma: Residents' Views and Local Population Change in the United States . Mark Baldassare. Sport and Place: A Geography of Sport in England, Scotland & Wales . John Bale. The Deindustrialization of America: Plant Closings, Community Abandonment, and the Dismantling of Basic Industry . Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison. Selected Essays 1963–1975: Carl O. Sauer . Bob Callahen, ed. Housing and Planning in the Countryside . G. Clark. Conflict, Politics and the Urban Scene . Kevin R. Cox and R. J. Johnston, eds. Thematic Maps: Their Design and Production . David J. Cuff and Mark T. Mattson. Wine: A Geographic Appreciation . Harm Jan de Blij. USSR in Maps . J. C. Dewdney. Political Geography: A Contemporary Perspective . Ramesh D. Dikshit. Rethinking Human Adaptation . Rada Dyson-Hudson and Michael A. Little, eds. Sacred Sands: The Struggle for Community in the indiana Dunes . J. Ronald Engel. Geography of the Biosphere . A. Furley and Walter W. Newey. Disaster and Reconstruction . Robert Geipel. Glasgow: The Making of a City . Andrew Gibb. Design for Arid Regions . Giden S. Golany, ed. Urbanization and Cancer Mortality: The United States Experience, 1950–1975 . Michael R. Greenberg. Geology in the Nineteenth Century: Changing Views of a Changing World . Mott T. Greene. Colonización y Destrucción de Bosques en Panamá . Stanley Heckadon Moreno and Alberto McKay, eds. Urban Geography: A First Approach . David T. Herbert and Colin J. Thomas. The Visual and Spatial Structure of Landscapes . Tadahiko Higuchi. Climate from Tree Rings . M. K. Hughes, P. M. Kelly, J. R. Pilcher, and V. C. LaMarche, Jr., eds. The structure of Nineteenth Century Cities . James H. Johnson and Colin G. Pooley, eds. The American Planner: Biographies and Recollections . Donald A. Krueckeberg, ed. Urban Land Policy For the 1980s, the Message for State and Local Government . George Lefcoe, ed. Regional Planning: Evolution, Crisis and Prospects . Gill C. Lim, ed. Relevance and Ethics In Geography . Bruce Mitchell and Dianne Draper. China: The Geography of Development and Modernization . Clifton W. Pannell and Laurence J. C. MA. The Urban Retailing System . Robert B. Potter. Hants. Nonconventional Energy Resources . Philip R. Pryde. Caribbean Migrants: Environment and Human Survival on St. Kitts and Nevis . Bonham C. Richardson. Population and Resources . Harry Robinson. East Los Angeles: History of A Barrio . Ricardo Romo. Integrated Impact Assessment . Frederick A. Rossini and Alan L. Porter, eds. Environmental Aesthetics: Essays in Interpretation . Barry Sadler and Allen Carlson, eds. Earthwatch . Charles Sheffield. Field Techniques and Research Methods in Geography . Robert H. Stoddard. Haiti: Land of Poverty . Robert J. Tata. Weathering and Erosion: Sources and Methods in Geography . Stephen T. Trudgill. Once Beneath the Forest. Prehistoric Terracing in the Río Bec Region of the Maya Lowlands . B. L. Turner, II. The Historical Geography of Scotland since 1707 . David Turnock.     

Assessment of GIAHS in Shizuoka: The Traditional Tea-grass Integrated System

<正>1 Introduction In 2013,Chagusaba,which is traditional tea-grass integrated system in Shizuoka,were accepted as new world heritage site of agriculture.Shizuoka prefecture occupies a variety of elevations,from 0 to 3000m or more above sea level.Because of the diversity of land features and climates,this area produces 167 agricultural commodities.In addition,a lot of traditional agriculture and over200 local native varieties of crops have been conserved in Shizuoka     

ERAHS: A New Platform for the Exchange of Regional Information and Experience on Agricultural Heritage Systems

<正>There are more than 10000 years of agricultural development history in the world that has provided very fruitful and ingenious traditional knowledge and experiences reflecting the evolution of humanity and the nature.In2002,the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO)initiated an international partnership initiative of"Conservation and Adaptive Management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: The City in Cultural Context . John Agnew, John Mercer, David Sopher, eds. Soils and Geomorphology Peter W. Birkeland. Urbanization and Settlement Systems, International Perspectives . L. S. Bourne, R. Sinclair, and K. Dziewoński. eds. An Introduction to Urban Historical Geography . Harold Carter. Overshoot, The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change . William J. Catton, Jr. Rivers of the World . Eberhard Czaya. Jewish Communities in Frontier Societies: Argentina, Australia and South Africa . Daniel J. Elazar with Peter Medding. Color in Public Spaces: Toward a Communication-Based Theory of the Urban Built Environment. Kenneth E. Foote. Spatial Statistics and Models. Gary L. Gaile and Cort J. Willmott, eds. Mega-Geomorphology. Rita Gardner and Helen Scoging, eds. Technological Change and Regional Development. Gillespie, ed. The Arid Lands: Their Use and Abuse. R. L. Heathcote. The Location of Industry in Britain. A. G. Hoare. Groundwater as a Geomorphic Agent . R. G. LaFleur, ed. Rural Public Services: International Comparisons. Richard E. Lonsdale and Gyorgy Enyedi, eds. Saving Water in a Desert City. William E. Martin, Helen M. Ingram, Nancy K. Laney, and Adrian H. Griffin. Water Resources: Distribution, Use and Management. John R. Mather. Transnationals and the Third World: The Struggle for Culture. Armand Mattelart. South Hadley, MA: USGS Digital Cartographic Data Standards. R. B. McEwen, R. E. Witmer, and B. S. Ramey, eds. The Ecosystem Concept in Anthropology. Emilio F. Moran, ed. Boulder, CO: Women, Men, and the International Division of Labor. June Nash and Maria Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, eds. Nuclear Power: Assessing and Managing Hazardous Technology. Martin J. Pasqualetti and K. David Pijawka, eds. Mary Somerville and the Cultivation of Science 1815-1840. Elizabeth Chalmers Patterson. An Introduction to Coastal Geomorphology. John Pethick. Late Quaternary Environments of the United States , Vol. 1, The Late Pleistocene. Stephen C. Porter, ed. Planning and Ecology. R. D. Roberts and T. M. Roberts, eds. Regionalism and the Pacific Northwest. William G. Robbins, Robert J. Frank, and Richard E. Ross, eds. Environment and Health. Anthony J. Rowland and Paul Cooper. Sunbelt/Snowbelt: Urban Development and Regional Restructuring. Larry Sawers and William K. Tabb, eds. The Bad Earth. Environmental Degradation in China. Vaclav Smil. Armonk, NY: Voyage into Substance: Art, Science, Nature, and the Illustrated Travel Account, 1760–1840. Barbara Maria Stafford. The Institute of British Geographers: The First Fifty Years. Robert W. Steel. Visions of the Past. Christopher Taylor and Richard Muir. Glacial Lake Agassiz. J. T. Teller and Lee Clayton, eds. The Tule Breakers: The Story of the California Dredge. John Thompson and Edward A. Dutra. The Balkan City 1400–1900. Nikolai Todorov. Explanation, Prediction and Planning: the Lowry model. Michael J. Webber. Mercedes Reales: Hispanic Land Grants of the Upper Rio Grande Region. Victor Westphall. The World Atlas of Revolutions. Andrew J. M. Wheatcroft. The West European City, A Social Geography. Paul White. Urban Elites and Mass Transportation. J. Allen Whitt. Princeton, NJ: Urban Life In Contemporary China. Martin King Whyte and William L. Parish. The Demand for Energy in the Soviet Union. David Wilson. London and Canberra: Rethinking Geographical Inquiry. J. David Wood, ed.     

PRODUCTIVITY OF AMERICAN PH.D.-GRANTING DEPARTMENTS OF GEOGRAPHY

Reviews of geographic software in this article:

DEMO-GRAPHICS: WORLD POPULATIONS AND PROJECTIONS.

ESP

GAUSS.

CEMODEL S. Damus

LIMDEP. William H. Greene

MICROSTAT 4.1

OTIS

PCIPS. (Personal Computer Image Processing System). H.J. Meyers and R. Bernstein.

REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF TIME SERIES (RATS)

SPSS/PC+

URBAN DATA MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE (UDMS)     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Rabat: Urban Apartheid in Morocco . Janet Abu -Lughod . Marketplaces in a Developing Country: The Case of Western Nigeria . Isaac Ayinde Adalemo . Farming Development and Space: A World Agricultural Geography . Bernd Andreae . Section and Party: A Political Geography of American Presidential Elections, from Andrew Jackson to Ronald Reagan . J. Clark Archer and Peter J. Taylor . Women and Space: Ground Rules and Social Maps . Shirley Ardener , ed. European Progress in Spatial Analysis . R. J. Bennett , ed. The Origins of Academic Geography in the United States . Brian W. Blouet Geographic Perspectives on Global Problems . Ronald Reed Boyce . Seasonal Dimensions to Rural Poverty . Robert Chambers , Richard Longhurst and Arnold Pacey eds. The New Nationalism and the Use of Common Spaces: Issues in Marine Pollution and the Exploitation of Antarctica . Jonathan I. Charney , ed. Communications Tomorrow: The Coming of the Information Society . Edward Cornish , ed. The Design of Suburbia . Arthur Edwards . Explorer on the Northern Plains: Lieutenant Gouverneur K. Warren's Preliminary Report of Explorations in Nebraska and Dakota in the Years 1855–56–57. With an Introduction by Frank N. Schubert . The Changing Climate: Responses of the Natural Flora and Fauna . Michael J. Ford . Essentials of Physical Geography . Robert E. Gabler , Robert J. Sager , Sheila Brazier , and Daniel L. Wise. The Road to Jaramillo . William Glen . Valued Environments . John R. Gold and Jacquelin Burgess , eds. Proximity and Preference: Problems in the Multidimensional Analysis of Large Data Sets . Reginald G. Golledge and John N. Rayner , eds. A Search for Common Ground . Peter Gould and Gunnar Olsson , eds. Geography: Its History and Concepts . Arild Holt -Jensen . A Population Geography . Huw R. Jones . The Human Mosaic: A Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography, 3rd ed. Terry G. Jordan and Lester Rowntree . Urban Social Geography: An Introduction . Paul Knox . The Anatomy of Job Loss: The How, Why and Where of Employment Decline . Doreen Massey and Richard Meegan . The Information Society as Post-Industial Society . Yoneji Masuda . Map Librarianship, 2nd ed. Harold Nichols . India: Cultural Patterns and Processes . Allen G. Noble and Ashok K. Dutt , eds. The God that Limps: Science and Technology in the Eighties . Colin Norman . Geography: An Introductory Perspective . Robert E. Norris , Keith D. Harries and John D. Vitek . The Politics of Technology Assessment . David M. O'Brien and Donald A. Marchand . Ethnic Segregation in Cities . Ceri Peach , Vaughan Robinson and Susan Smith , eds. Churches and Church Membership in the United States, 1980 . Bernard Quinn , Herman Anderson , Martin Bradley , Paul Goetting and Peggy Shriver . Energy in Australia: Politics and Economics . Hugh Saddler . Development from Above or Below? The Dialectics of Regional Planning in Developing Countries . Walter B. Stóuhr and D. R. Fraser Taylor , eds. Human Impact on the Ecosystem . Joy Tivy and Greg O'Hare . Plants and People: Vegetation Change in North America . Thomas R. Vale . The Mapmakers: The Story of the Great Pioneers in Cartography from Antiquity to the Space Age . John Noble Wilford .     

Deserts and Aeolian Desertification in China: Book review and some thoughts

Desertification is a global phenomenon that affects about two billion people. It occurs in arid zones where the annual precipitation is below 400 mm, partic- ularly in the marginal areas of the world＇s largest deserts. It is a result of water and wind erosion, over- grazing, global warm-ing, improper soil cultivation, and increased pressure ot population growth, and it causes degradation of soil and natural and agricultural vegetation. The direct result is less food for people and livestock, which influences pop- ulation and animal husbandry fluctuations. Despite ef- forts to combat and reduce desertification, the affected areas are annually increasing.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: The Rice Economy of Asia . Randolph Barker and Robert W. Herdt with Beth Rose. Using Microcomputers: A Guidebook for Writers, Teachers, and Researchers in the Social Sciences . Blaine A. Erie—the Lake that Survived . Noel M. Burns. Geology and Society . Donald R. Coates. Caves and Karst of Kentucky . Percy H. Dougherty, ed. Altered Harvest: Agriculture, Genetics, and the Fate of the World's Food Supply . Jack Doyle. The Middle East and North Africa, A Political Geography . Alasdair Drysdale and Gerald H. Blake. Clamor at the Gates. The New American Immigration . Nathan Glazer, ed. Development and the Landowner: An analysis of the British experience . Robin Goodchild and Richard Munton. Discovering Landscape in England and Wales . Andrew Goudie and Rita Gardner. The Modern Plantation in the Third World . Edgar Graham and Ingrid Floering. Social Relations and Spatial Structures . Derek Gregory and John Urry, eds. The World Food Problem 1950–1980 . David Grigg. Costa Rica: A Geographical Interpretation in Historical Perspective . Carolyn Hall. The Urbanization of Capital: Studies in the History and Theory of Capitalist Urbanization . David Harvey Consciousness and the Urban Experience: Studies in the History and Theory of Capitalist Urbanization . David Harvey. Reviving Main Street . Deryck Holdsworth, ed. Rural Roads and Poverty Alleviation . John Howe and Peter Richards, eds. Uneven Development in Southern Europe: Studies of Accumulation, Class, Migration and the State . Ray Hudson and Jim Lewis, eds. Karst Geomorphology . J. N. Jennings. The Geomorphology of North-west England . R. H. Johnson, ed. Climate Impact Assessment: Studies of the Interaction of Climate and Society . Robert Kates, Jesse Ausubel, Mimi Berberian, eds. Public Service Provision and Urban Development . Andrew Kirby, Paul Knox, and Steven Pinch, ed. State and Market: The Politics of the Public and the Private . Jan-Erik Lane, ed. Living Cities . Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on Urban Preservation Policies. World Climatic Systems . John G. Lockwood. Urban Ethnicity in the United States. New Immigrants and Old Minorities . Lionel Maldonaldo and Joan Moore, eds. Culture and Conservation: The Human Dimension in Environmental Planning . Jeffrey A. McNeely and David Pitt, eds. The Andean Past. Land, Societies, and Conflicts . Magnus Mörner. Gaia: An Atlas of Planet Management . Norman Myers, ed. Progress in Industrial Geography . Michael Pacione, ed. Progress in Political Geography . Michael Pacione, ed. Rivers and Landscape . Geoff Petts and Ian Foster. Urbanization and Planning in the 3rd World: Spatial Perceptions and Public Participation . Robert B. Potter. One Island, Two Nations? A Political Geographical Analysis of the National Conflict in Ireland . D. G. Pringle. Circulation in Third World Countries . R. Mansell Prothero and Murray Chapman. The Ozarks Outdoors: A Guide for Fishermen, Hunters, and Tourists . Milton D. Rafferty. Suburban Burglary: A Time and a Place for Everything . George Rengert and John Wasilchick. Geomorphology and Soils . K.S. Richards, R.R. Arnett, and S. Ellis, eds. The Homes and Homeless of Post-War Britain . Frederick Shaw. Indochinese Refugees in America . Paul J. Strand and Woodrow Jones, Jr. Wild Horses and Sacred Cows . Richard Symanski. Forever Wild: Environmental Aesthetics and the Adirondack Forest Preserve . Philip G. Terrie. The Regional Economic Impact of Technological Change . A.T. Thwaites and R.P. Oakey, eds. The Good Life . Yi-Fu Tuan.