A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF SNOW MASS VARIATIONS IN CHINA OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS*

Daily snow data for 2300 climate stations covering the period from 1951 through 1980 have been used to monitor and diagnose secular variations,year-to-year fluctuations,and the spatial characteristics of snow variation trends in China.An examination of time series reveals that there is a strong teleconnction to ENSO,to major volcanic eruptions,as well as to the CO₂-induced warming.The country-wide snow mass variations are positively correlated with global mean temperature,increasing during the current warming period and decreasing during the recent cooling period prior to the mid 1960s.A synchronous relationship exists between El Nino/Southern Oscillation and snowy winter in China.The year-to-year snow fluctuations seem to be generally out of phase with volcanic activity.The anomaly map shows that snow mass increased in high altitudes and moist regions,while it decreased in arid lowland and the southern boundary zone during the warming period.The potential CO₂-induced changes in snow mass will further aggravate the regional differentiation between high mountains and lowlands,between moist and arid regions.The number of snow cover days will decrease in the northern lowlands,and snowfall will increase in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau,high mountains,and the lower reaches of the Changjiang(Yangtze) River.