Access routes to high mountain huts facing climate-induced environmental changes and adaptive strategies in the Western Alps since the 1990s

ABSTRACT

In the European Alps, high mountain environments are subject to major impacts resulting from climate change, which strongly affect human activities such as mountaineering. The purpose of the study was to examine changes in access routes to 30 high mountain huts in the Western Alps since the 1990s. Data were derived from the use of two different methods, geo-historical studies and a questionnaire, and were used to identify both the climate-related processes affecting the climbing routes and the strategies implemented by public entities, Alpine clubs, guide companies, and hut keepers to maintain acceptable safety and technical conditions. The case studies revealed issues affecting three access routes and the results from the questionnaire showed that the main processes affecting access routes were loss of ice thickness and retreat from the front of the glaciated areas. Commonly, in situ equipment was installed to facilitate access for mountaineers and/or a part of a route was relocated to a safer area. The authors conclude that in most cases, the measures were effective but they were limited by financial, ethical and legal issues, especially in protected or classified areas that could jeopardise their durability and effectiveness.     

气候和人为因素对植被变化影响的评价方法综述

系统评价气候变化和人为因素引起的植被退化,对有效开展生态工程建设、实现生态环境的可持续发展具有重要意义。目前绝大多研究主要分析气候因素对植被变化的影响,分析气候因素和人类活动对植被变化的双重影响少有研究。本文主要介绍这一双重影响对植被变化的贡献程度的主要研究方法——定性-半定量法、回归分析法、残差趋势法、基于净第一生产力的评价方法。综述分析了气候和人为因素对植被变化驱动的主要结论,总结目前各研究方法存在的问题,提出了未来需要重点加强气候和人为因素对植被变化驱动因素的分解研究,加强模型评价和不确定性量化研究等。     

滇池历史地理初步研究

初步研究了地质时代滇池的形成,人类历史时期滇池及周围的环境演变发展的过程,特别是生产活动,文物古迹的分布和气候,动植物的变迁,提出保护自然景观和社会经济发展之间,关系处理好了,是可以和谐共进的。     

Reviews

Abstract

North American Exploration: A Continent Defined, Volume 2, John Logan Allen, editor, Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 1997. 480 pp. Illustrations, maps. ISBN 080321023x. $75.00 (Cloth).

North American Exploration: A Continent Defined, Volume 3, John Logan Allen, editor, Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 1997. 656 pp. Illustrations, maps. ISBN 0803210434. $75.00 (Cloth).

Space, Gender, and Knowledge, Linda McDowell and Joanne P. Sharp, editors, New York, NY John Wiley & Sons. 1997. 468 pp. ISBN 0470236698. $34.95 (paper).

The Japanese City, P.P. Karan and Kristin Stapleton, editors, Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. 1997. 264 pp. ISBN 0813120357. $31.95 (cloth).

Education, Environment and Economy: Reporting Research in a New Academic Grouping, Frances Slater, David Lambert, and David Lines, editors, London, England: Institute of Education, University of London. 1997. 210 pp. Figures., ISBN 0854734996. £11.99 (paper).

The Peopling of Africa: A Geographic Interpretation, James L. Newman New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. 1997., 252 pp. Maps., ISBN 0300072805. $15.00 (paper).     

Public Targets,Private Choices: Urban Climate Governance in the Pacific Northwest

A survey of local governments participating in two urban climate change programs is presented to determine the mechanisms used to reach emissions reduction goals and the motivations for participation. Results support previous research that shows a preference for policies that rely on changes in individual behavior, while also providing new insights into how mitigation responsibilities are distributed among the public and private sector and the relative importance of scientific consensus, economic incentives, and federal inaction on local government justification for climate-related policies. The article concludes with a discussion of urban climate governance as part of a wider system of neoliberal climate governance.     

African Environment and Development: Rhetoric,Programs, Realities

Tropical deforestation is widely believed to directly influence the climate at a number of scales. Yet while much has been written about the tropical forest-climate relationship, there is little empirical evidence showing if and how local and regional climates are modified by deforestation. This study presents the results of an analysis of deforestation and climate change in a rain forest in southern Mexico. Records from 18 climate stations in the Selva Lacandona of Chiapas, Mexico were examined and related to an analysis of deforestation based on Landsat images. The area surrounding some stations has been deforested since the stations were established, while the area surroundings others has remained forested. Strong climatic trends were generally evident at the deforested stations, including decreases in the average daily maximum temperature and temperature range. No precipitation changes were observed. A comparison of the results with microclimatic experiments and modeling studies suggests that the climatic impacts of deforestation are overgeneralized at the local scale. Landscape heterogeneity appears to influence the biophysical mechanisms linking tropical forests and climate, and should be explicitly represented in modeling studies.     

区域气候变化脆弱性综合评估研究进展

区域脆弱性评估为脆弱性地区农户摆脱贫困、区域持续发展和政府制定适应策略提供科学依据.由于区域内部人地系统的复杂性,区域的脆弱性定量评估较为困难.中国脆弱性研究起步较晚,关注较早的是脆弱性区域的分布,但对区域内脆弱人群的脆弱性研究较少,认识上的不足影响了国家和地方政府制定科学的适应政策和措施.本文介绍了对脆弱性的认识,梳...     

采点和去趋势方法对天山西部云杉上树线树轮宽度年表相关性及其气候信号的影响

针对新疆天山西部伊犁、博州三大山体北坡云杉上树线树木年轮资料,采用区域曲线、负指数曲线、样条函数三种不同生长去趋势方法,研制树轮宽度年表,分析不同采点和树轮去趋势方法对树轮宽度年表在不同频域的相关性及气候信号的影响发现：①采点间的距离和是否位于同一气候区是影响云杉上树线树轮宽度年表间相关性的首要因子。三个采点间的树轮宽度变化,在高频变化方面最为相似,低频变化存在着较大差异,表明它们在揭示和重建大范围的高频气候变化方面可能具有较大的应用潜力。②三种不同去趋势方法对天山西部山脉北坡上树线的云杉树轮宽度年表的研制具有一定影响,负指数和样条函数去趋势方法研制的树轮年表较为相似,而区域曲线去趋势方法研制的树轮宽度年表中则可保留较多的轮宽低频变化信息。③降水是天山西部云杉上树线的树轮宽度生长的主要限制因子,且树轮宽度生长对降水的响应具有显著的滞后性。④在天山西部的云杉上树线采点,使用区域曲线去趋势方法有利于在树轮宽度年表中保留较多的与水分有关的气候信息。     

气候变化对阿拉善荒漠植被的影响研究

利用1982—2003年NASA GIMMS归一化植被指数(NDVI)数据集和阿拉善左旗、右旗和额济纳旗气温和降水资料,对阿拉善地区NDVI变化和气候变化特征及其相互关系进行了分析。结果表明：①1982—2003年东部地区(左旗植被指数略有增加,而中部(右旗)和西部地区(额济纳旗)则呈下降趋势。季节变化东、中、西部表现不同。左旗和额济纳旗多年平均NDVI的月变化和右旗相反。②东部地区升温率最大,其次是西部和中部地区。降水表现为东部和西部地区(额济纳旗)稍有增加,而中部地区(右旗)呈缓慢减少趋势。季节变化东、中、西部表现不同。多年平均气温和降水量的月变化趋势东、中、西部一致,呈单峰型曲线。③东部地区和中部地区,降水量与植被指数存在明显的年相关、隔季和当季相关,而西部地区额济纳旗没有明显的相关性。阿拉善地区NDVI同温度的相关性不好。     

青海北川河流域径流变化的机理研究——基于模型和统计两种方法

气候变化和下垫面变化是影响河道径流的两大驱动力,研究两者对径流的影响有利于深入理解流域水文过程,为水资源管理提供科学依据。鉴于利用不同方法获得的结果存在一定程度的差异,有必要使用多种方法进行交叉验证。论文基于Budyko水量平衡法和新增水库模块的分布式水文模型(DHSVM)法量化了气候变化和下垫面变化对青海省北川河流域径流变化的贡献。结果表明：① 自1960年以来流域出口流量以每年0.037 m³/s的趋势下降,突变年份发生在1969年。② 2种方法的分析结果均表明,年代际尺度上,气候变化对径流影响的贡献率由高到低依次为：1990—1999年>2000—2009年>1970—1979年>1980—1989年=2010—2019年,且下垫面变化是1970—2019年流域出口径流变化的主导因素,对应的贡献率分别为94.58% (Budyko法)和65.68% (DHSVM法)。③ Budyko方法只能揭示流域整体的变化,而DHSVM方法能够体现水文过程变化的时空差异,模型结果表明上中游、下游地区的年平均径流变化分别受气候变化、下垫面变化主导;流域出口处月径流变化则对下垫面条件中的水库调节更敏感。此外,文中就2种方法量化结果差异的原因也展开了讨论。