Modelling geomorphic response to climatic change

This paper develops a three-step thaw model to assess the impact of predicted warming on an ice-rich polar desert landscape in the Canadian high Arctic. Air temperatures are established for two climate scenarios, showing mean annual increases of 4.9 and 6.5°C. This leads to a lengthening of the summer thaw season by up to 26 days and increased thaw depths of 12–70 cm, depending on the thermal properties of the soil. Subsidence of the ground surface is the primary landscape response to warming and is shown to be a function of the amount and type of ground ice in various cryostratigraphic units. In areas of pore ice and thin ice lenses with a low density of ice wedges, subsidence may be as much as 32 cm. In areas with a high density of ice wedges, subsidence will be slightly higher at 34 cm. Where massive ice is present, subsidence will be greater than 1 m. Landscape response to new climate conditions can take up to 15 years, and may be as long as 50 years in certain cases.     

The response of lake levels and areas to climatic change

The levels and areas of lakes, particularly closed lakes (those without outlet) are known to be sensitive indicators of changes in climate, and so in principle they can play a role in monitoring current and future climatic changes. In this paper we derive solutions to the water balance equation giving the response of the level and area of closed lakes to steps, spikes and sinusoidal variations in aridity, and show that such a lake acts approximately as a simple low pass filter having a characteristic equilibrium response timeτ _e. We also review the similar response of open lakes to changes in runoff. It is shown howτ _e depends on lake geomorphology and climate, and for a number of lakes we calculateτ _e values, ranging from 1.5 to 350 yr for closed lakes, and from 2.9 days to 2 yr for open lakes. We propose methods involving Fourier analysis for inverting closed lake level or area records to obtain plots of a simple aridity index C. It is shown that for all ≈ 200 of the world's large (? 100 km²) closed lakes, satellite remote sensing of lake levels and areas is currently sensitive enough to monitor variations in C (e.g. in average basin precipitation) of order 1% to 10% on the time-scale of years to decades.     

Importance of colonization and competition in forest landscape response to global climatic change

The tree species composition of a forested landscape may respond to climate change through two primary successional mechanisms: (1) colonization of suitable habitats and (2) competitive dynamics of established species. In this study, we assessed the relative importance of competition and colonization in forest landscape response (as measured by the forest type composition change) to global climatic change. Specifically, we simulated shifts in forest composition within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northern Minnesota during the period 2000–2400?AD. We coupled a forest ecosystem process model, PnET-II, and a spatially dynamic forest landscape model, LANDIS-II, to simulate landscape change. The relative ability of 13 tree species to colonize suitable habitat was represented by the probability of establishment or recruitment. The relative competitive ability was represented by the aboveground net primary production. Both competitive and colonization abilities changed over time in response to climatic change. Our results showed that, given only moderate-frequent windthrow (rotation period = 500?years) and fire disturbances (rotation period = 300?years), competition is relatively more important for the short-term (<100?years) compositional response to climatic change. For longer-term forest landscape response (>100?years), colonization became relatively more important. However, if more frequent fire disturbances were simulated, then colonization is the dominant process from the beginning of the simulations. Our results suggest that the disturbance regime will affect the relative strengths of successional drivers, the understanding of which is critical for future prediction of forest landscape response to global climatic change.     

The decline of Late Bronze Age civilization as a possible response to climatic change

The disintegration of Eastern Mediterranean civilization at the end of the late Bronze Age (late thirteenth and twelfth centuries B.C.) has traditionally been attributed to the irruption of new peoples into this area. However, the nearly contemporaneous decline of highly organized and powerful states in Greece, Anatolia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia warrants consideration of possible environmental causes likely to operate over sizable areas, especially since archaeological research has not succeeded in establishing the presence of newcomers at the onset of the Bronze Age disturbances.Climatic change is a particularly attractive candidate since temperature and precipitation variations persisting over relatively short times can adversely affect agricultural output. Carpenter (1966) argued that the Mycenaean decline and migrations in and from Greece in the late thirteenth century were caused by prolonged drought and not the incursion of less civilized Dorian tribes. Donley (1971) and Bryson et al. (1974) have presented evidence of a spatial drought pattern which occurred in January 1955 that might be invoked to support this thesis. Population movements in Anatolia at the same time, though not as well established, can be delimited to some degree by the distribution of Hitto-Luwian peoples in the late ninth century B.C. It is hypothesized here that a drought induced migration of Luwian peoples from Western Antolia occurred early in the twelfth century B.C., that it was associated in some fashion with the invasion of Egypt by the Sea Peoples in the reign of Ramesses III, and that the defeated remnants of these peoples settled along the Levantine coast and filtered into North Syria and the upper Euphrates valley.It has been suggested that past climatic patterns recur in the present epoch but with a possibly different frequency. To establish that a spatial drought analogue to the above hypothesized migration can occur, temperature and precipitation records from 35 Greek, Turkish, Cypriot, and Syrian weather stations for the period 1951–1976 were examined. The Palmer drought index, an empirical method of measuring drought severity, was computed for each of these stations for the period of record. Since wheat yields tend to be highly correlated with winter precipitation for the area in question, the drought indices for the winter months were subjected to an empirical eigenvector analysis. An eigenvector (drought pattern) consistent with the postulated population movements in Anatolia occurred within the modern climatological record and was found to have been the dominant pattern in January 1972. The potential problems of eigenvector analysis in investigating problems of this type are discussed.     

On predicting the response of forests in eastern North America to future climatic change

Our ability to accurately predict the response of forests in eastern North America to future climatic change is limited by our knowledge of how different tree species respond to climate. When the climatic response of eastern hemlock is modeled across its range, we find that the assumed climatic response used in simulation models is not sufficient to explain how this species is presently responding to climate. This is also the case for red spruce growing in the northern Appalachian Mountains. Consequently, simulations of future change to forests that include eastern hemlock and red spruce may need to be improved. We suspect that similar findings will be made when other tree species are studied in detail using tree-ring analysis. If so, our present understanding of how individual tree species respond to climate may not be adequate for accurately predicting future changes to these forests. Tree-ring analysis can increase our understanding of how climate affects tree growth in eastern North America and, hence, provide the knowledge necessary to produce more accurate predictions.     

Sensitivity of agricultural production to climatic change

Although the range of cultivated species is relatively restricted, domestic plants and animals exhibit considerable resilience to stochastic shocks, and the study of their ecological adaptability and critical physiological and phenological requirements is a valuable first step in determining their possible response to climatic change. Methods of assessing agroclimatic suitability and their limitations are discussed, and suggestions are made for simulating the probable impact of shifts in the main climatic parameters on the productivity and spatial distribution of key crops and livestock. Some regions and crops are climatically more vulnerable than others: some regions (in particular North America) are strategically more critical to the stability of world food supplies, while in others resources for agricultural production are under more severe pressure.As well as attempts to forecast long-term climatic trends and their effects on agriculture, combating climatic variability merits high priority. This is an ever-present source of instability in production and could be enhanced in association with changing climate. Its magnitude differs widely among crops and geographical regions, but its impact from year to year is often greater than that predicted from climatic change even in extreme scenarios. The paper indicates a number of potentially desirable areas for action and suggests that several of these would be beneficial both as a buffer against short-term effects of variability and as a means of combating climatic change.     

Situational and cognitive obstacles to political consensus on climatic change

The discussion draws on results from the project entitledCultural and Techno-Ecological Constraints and Opportunities for Natural Resources Management, financed by the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research.     

Potential response of pacific northwestern forests to climatic change,effects of stand age and initial composition

We used an individual-based forest simulator (a gap model) to assess the potential effects of anthropogenic climatic change on conifer forests of the Pacific Northwestern United States. Steady-state simulations suggested that forest zones could be shifted on the order of 500–1000 m in elevation, which could lead to the local extirpation of some high-altitude species. For low-elevation sites, species which currently are more abundant hundreds of kilometers to the south would be favored under greenhouse scenarios. Simulations of transient responses suggested that forest stands could show complex responses depending on initial species composition, stand age and canopy development, and the magnitude and duration of climatic warming. Assumptions about species response to temperature, which are crucial to the model's behaviors, were evaluated using data on species temperature limits inferred from regional distributions. The high level of within-species variability in these data, and other confounding factors influencing species distributions, argue against over-interpreting simulations. We suggest how we might resolve critical uncertainties with further research.     

Assessing the sensitivity of Canada's ecosystems to climatic change

Global warming due to increased concentrations of atmospheric CO₂ is expected to be amplified in middle and higher latitudes. Consequently, ecosystems in these latitudes will experience more pronounced climatic variations. This investigation attempts to assess the sensitivity of Canada's ecosystems to climatic change. Potential ecological impacts resulting from global warming are outlined. With this background, the effects of a doubled CO₂ climate are applied to a classification model derived from the current ecological setting. Results reveal not only major shifts in ecological boundaries but also changes in the character of these broadly distributed ecosystems.     

Determinants of environmental action with regard to climatic change

The study of human dimensions of global climatic change is still in the initial stage of development. Several attempts have been undertaken to define sensible research strategies in the field but until now relatively little empirical work has been undertaken and there is a lack of sound theoretical arguments. The present paper presents a theory-based empirical study of determinants influencing the probability that somebody takes climate-relevant environmental action. Important methodological differences between current models of climate dynamics and models of human reality are discussed in order to build three models of climate-related environmental action. A model focussed on the information transfer from science to the public at large is compared with a model focussed on sociodemographic characteristics and with a model focussed on socio-cultural variables like interpersonal rules and social networks. The hypothesis that the latter model is strongly superior to the former ones is tested and confirmed. Some implications for interdisciplinary cooperation and for policy making are discussed.     

Forest response to climatic change: Effects of parameter estimation and choice of weather patterns on the reliability of projections

Computer projections suggest that forests may respond dramatically and rapidly to global warming, with significant and readily observable changes in forests of mid-latitudes occurring by the turn of the century or shortly thereafter. These results raise the question: how reliable are the projections? Sensitivity analyses reported in this paper suggest that projections of forest response to global warming will be generally insensitive to errors of 10% in parameter estimation. Even where projections are sensitive quantitatively, they are not changed in timing. Projections are insensitive to the choice of baseline weather records, unless the warmest or coldest decades of the 20th century are used as baselines.     

A Modeling Study of Climatic Change and Its Implication for Agriculture in C

The trends and features of China’s climatic change in the past and future are analysed by applying station obser-vations and GCM simulation results. Nationally, the country has warmed by 0.3oC in annual mean air temperature and decreased by 5% in annual precipitation over 1951-1990. Regionally, temperature change has varied from a cooling of 0.3oC in Southwest China to a warming of 1.0oC in Northeast China. With the exception of South China, all regions of China have shown a declination in precipitation. Climatic change has the features of increasing remark-ably in winter temperature and decreasing obviously in summer precipitation. Under doubled CO2 concentration, climatic change in China will tend to be warmer and moister, with increases of 4.5oC in annual mean air temperature and 11% in annual precipitation on the national scale. Future climatic change will reduce the temporal and spatial differences of climatic factors.     

气候变化对生态系统和农业的影响

本文简述了近百年全球气候和中国气候的变化,以及这种变化对生态系统和农业产量的影响。对于用模式研究气候变化对农业产量影响的方法,也进行了初步介绍。     

2000—2020年呼伦贝尔地区归一化植被指数时空变化及其对气候的响应

利用2000—2020年MOD13Q1和气象观测数据,结合Sen趋势分析、M-K显著性检验、变异系数、Hurst指数、相关系数等对呼伦贝尔地区归一化植被指数(NDVI)时空变化及气候响应进行分析。结果表明：呼伦贝尔地区多年生长季平均NDVI为0.63,平均年变化倾向率为0.028/10 a,大部分地区呈增加趋势,其中大兴安岭森林大部及岭西耕地增加显著。呼伦贝尔地区生长季NDVI的平均变异系数为0.08,其中呼伦贝尔草原西部的波动较大。Hurst指数表明,呼伦贝尔地区生长季NDVI整体变化呈反持续性趋势,结合现有NDVI变化趋势,未来将呈下降趋势,对生态环境的保护工作较为不利。大兴安岭森林生长季NDVI与气温呈正相关,耕地与草原区呈负相关,而呼伦贝尔大部分地区的生长季NDVI与降水普遍呈正相关,其中呼伦贝尔草原和大兴安岭两麓耕地的生长季NDVI与降水相关显著,说明气温是制约北部大兴安岭森林生长的主要因素,而降水是制约呼伦贝尔草原生态平衡和农牧业发展的主要因素。     

Biological production off Southern California is linked to climatic change

To obtain clues about how coastal primary production might be affected by interannual and interdecadal changes in climate, we studied marine laminated sediments from the center of the Santa Barbara Basin. We report here a large decrease in the flux of diatoms between the periods 1954–1972 and 1973–1986, by a factor of five, and sustained reductions from 1973 to 1978 by a factor of ten below the pre-1972 period. Planktonic foraminifera flux shows a consistent trend of decrease with lowest values from 1981 to 1984. On the whole, the 1954–1972 period is considerably cooler than the 1973–1986 period, over the entire North Pacific. The decrease in biological production in this coastal system is accompanied by an overall intensification of the Aleutian Low in the North Pacific over the past 14 years, providing for a weakening of the California Current, and an overall reduction of mixing and upwelling. The possibility that the low coastal production could provide positive feedback to global warming through reduction of CO₂-uptake, and its relation to the greenhouse effect is considered. On a shorter time-scale, the effects of El Niño phenomena are clearly seen in the sediments of this basin, as decreases in total diatom flux and increases in the relative abundance of certain warm-water diatoms.     

遵义市花椒气候生态区划研究

为探讨影响花椒生长发育的主要气候资源和受气象灾害的影响因子,本文根据不同品种的花椒对气候生态条件要求的差异,分析遵义与花椒优生区(重庆江津)气候条件的异同,确定影响遵义市花椒区域分布差异的主要气候生态区划指标,并利用Arcgis和数字高程模型(DEM)对遵义市种植花椒进行气候生态精细化区划。结果表明：九叶青花椒适宜栽培区主要分布在我市西部和北部海拔在900米以下地区种植,区内热量条件充足,冬季遭受低温冻害风险相对小;次适宜栽培区主要分布在我市中部和东南部等海拔为600米到1000米地区,冬季遭受低温冻害风险增大,为25%-40%之间;不适宜区分布在习水、大娄山脉等海拔在1000米到1100米以上的区域,花椒冬季遭受低温冻害风险较大,在50%以上。     

The sensitivity of the south chilean snowline to climatic change

Inferred climatic changes in southern Chile during the Last Glacial Maximum are modelled to investigate the role of the southern Westerlies on the region's glacial history. This is accomplished with a numerical model of the surface energy balance which derives glacial mass balance profiles from existing climatic stations. This provides an independent measure of the regional snowline which is compared with palaeoecological evidence of former snowlines.The modelled snowline mirrors the latitudinal trend of current glacier equilibrium line altitudes. It is most sensitive to temperature changes in regions with high precipitation (46°–50° S) and to precipitation changes in regions with lower precipitation totals (south of 50° and north of 40°). This differential sensitivity with latitude implies that glacial expansion in the region depends on a delicate interplay between cooling induced by the equatorward movement of the oceanic Antarctic Polar Front and access to precipitation comparable to or greater than that of today. The main conclusion is that glacial expansion in southern Chile is associated with the migration of the southern Westerlies towards the equator. The importance of migrating precipitation belts in permitting glacier growth carries the implication that maximum depression of the snowline is unlikely to have been contemporaneous from latitude to latitude.