A comprehensive approach to drought and desertification in Northern Nigeria

Drought has been a recurring feature of the arid and semi-arid areas of Nigeria. This paper reviews the extent, severity, and consequences of drought and desertification in Nigeria with particular emphasis on the northern part of the country. The haphazard manner in which these environmental hazards have been tackled is examined and a systematic approach for the formulation of a national policy is proposed. It is recommended that a detailed formulation and implementation of the proposed policy plan is imperative to mitigate the often devastating impacts of drought and desertification in the very prone areas of Nigeria. Until such is done, some areas of Nigeria will always be vulnerable to the whims of an inevitable climatic hazard of drought and associated land degradation in the form of desertification.     

Some aspects of the spatial characteristics of drought in northern Nigeria

A long-period instrumental data set (1916–1987) of monthly growing season (April–October) rainfall totals for 34 stations in northern Nigeria is used to quantify drought following the method of H. N. Bhalme and D. A. Mooley. It is established that there are remarkable seasonal changes in the patterns of wetness and dryness over the region with no consistent recurrent spatial patterns in the moisture anomalies. In general, large-scale droughts only rarely cover the region as a whole, and there are distinct spatial differences dominating the wet and dry years. The length and severity of drought varies from sub-area to sub-area with very low interannual persistence. Although discrete areas do catch the brunt of drought on a year-by-year basis, drought occurrence in the region is largely sporadic in its spatial distribution. The rather noisy spatial characteristics of drought in northern Nigeria suggests that the seasonal shift in the Intertropical Discontinuity (ITD) is not likely the most important causal mechanism of drought in the region.     

近三十年来非洲的旱灾与环境变化

本文简要介绍了近三十年来非洲旱灾的基本情况,分析了其形成的原因,并指出,总的说来,干旱是形成非洲旱灾的一个自然因素,但它不等于旱灾.从环境的角度来看,非洲旱灾更重要的原因是人类不适当的土地利用和管理.文章最后提出了非洲防止旱灾的若干战略原则和建议.     

全球增暖下我国旱涝灾害可能情景的初步研究

在全球变暖的情况下,我国东南沿海、西南、西北、内蒙古和东北部分地区,洪涝灾害可能增加;而黄河中游以南和华北平原干旱可能增加.这一变化特征与本世纪暖期降水分布变化,以及与CO_2倍增情况下气候模似结果基本一致.     

应用土壤水模拟模型研究区域干旱

旨在应用平原地区土壤水模拟模型，给出区域旱精分析所需的干旱信息。以多年平均土壤含水量为判断旱情发生的临界函数，经过统计分析后，提出了一种适用于平原地区分析 区域旱情严重程度的实用方法和拟定评价旱情的定量标准。     

低纬和中高纬度火山爆发与我国旱涝的联系

根据５００年旱涝等级资料，采用时序迭加方法，分析了低纬和中高纬火山爆发对我国降水的影响。此外，还对１６００－１９７９年南方涛动指数的变化进行了类似的分析。结果表明，低纬和中高纬火山爆发发后全国旱涝分布型和部分地区降水变化趋势有很大差异。爆发当年华北就可能明显变旱，而次年长江流域才出现明显的降水异常。计算不明，１９９１年皮纳图博火山及去仙岳火山爆发与江淮特大洪涝有直接联系的可能性不大。     

Drought monitoring

Drought detection, monitoring and indices are closely related to its definition. The specific definition chosen for a particular drought analysis will affect the procedures one uses in drought detection and monitoring. The traditional Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) has been proven to be ineffective in regions of predominantly irrigated agriculture.The recently developed ALERT (Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time) system is proposed for use in monitoring the spatial and temporal variations of drought in real time. The ALERT system uses standardized instruments, radio frequencies, software and hardware. It was originally developed as a flash flood waming system by local flood control districts and the National Weather Service. However, now it has expanded to over 100 other uses in the areas of natural and man-made disaster detection and warning. The successful ALERT system indicates the need for the continued development of a national drought monitoring index that is applicable to a wide range of climate, hydrologic and water resource environments.     

我国低纬高原地区初夏强降水天气研究II·2005与2001年5月云南旱涝成因的对比分析

2001年和2005年的5月云南分别出现了严重的洪涝和干旱天气。通过分析研究表明,这两年在大尺度环流形势、季风爆发的早晚和强弱以及ENSO背景的影响等方面都有着显著的不同。2001年5月对流层中层的东亚槽位置偏西且强度偏强,同时南支槽稳定维持且较强,致使冷暖空气易于在云南地区交汇,这可能是在该地区产生较强降水的主要环流形势,而2005年5月东亚槽位置偏东,南支槽较弱,致使云南地区几乎没有水汽来源和缺乏冷暖空气的交汇,这是产生干旱的主要环流形势;同时南海季风爆发的早晚和强弱与云南5月降水也有着较好的关系,2001年5月南海季风爆发偏早且强度偏强,而2005年5月南海季风爆发偏晚且强度偏弱,这两年5月的降水差异较大;对水汽分布的分析还表明,2001年5月云南地区为水汽辐合区,且较常年平均偏大,水汽通量为西南向,且强度较强。而2005年5月云南为水汽辐散区,孟加拉湾的水汽向东进入南海,云南地区非常干燥;从ENSO大背景对其影响的分析可知,2001年5月的洪涝和2005年5月的干旱与这两年的前期海温变化似乎也存在一定的联系。     

刚毛柽柳种子萌发对盐分与干旱胁迫的响应

通过对不同温度、盐分和干旱胁迫对刚毛柽柳种子萌发实验研究影响,结果表明:刚毛柽柳种子的适宜萌发温度范围为10~35℃,萌发率高达80%以上,且萌发迅速。不同浓度NaCl溶液对刚毛柽柳种子萌发有明显抑制作用,种子萌发率随NaCl溶液浓度的增大而下降,到0.7 mol/L时,萌发率仅为1.67%,种子发芽受到抑制。相同渗透势PEG-6 000溶液中的萌发率低于NaCl溶液,渗透势为-0.5 MPa是二者影响作用的分界点。渗透势为-1.8 MPa时,萌发率已急剧下降到0,其对种子萌发的抑制作用大于NaCl溶液。将在两溶液中处理10天的种子转移至蒸馏水后,随着NaCl溶液浓度的增大,萌发恢复率逐渐升高,0.7 mol/L时,萌发恢复率为60%;随着PEG-6 000溶液浓度增大,萌发恢复率先升高后降低,渗透势为-1.4 MPa时,种子萌发恢复率达到最大为67.5%,但两种处理下种子的最终萌发率(总萌发率)都低于在蒸馏水中的。