中国干旱事件成因和变化规律的研究进展与展望

干旱是世界上危害最广泛、最严重的自然灾害之一。中国地处典型季风气候区,干旱灾害的影响尤为突出。国际上对干旱问题已经进行了大量研究,逐渐由对干旱的定性和表象的认识发展到对干旱客观特征的定量认识和形成机理的深入揭示。自新中国成立以来,中国从以往仅对一些重大干旱事件的零散认识逐步发展到与国际干旱研究的完全接轨,干旱研究取得了长足进展。但是,目前对干旱研究取得的科学进展缺乏客观全面的整体认识,对干旱研究的发展方向尚未能充分洞察。为此,基于国际干旱研究现状,系统回顾了新中国成立以来中国干旱研究的历程,总结了中国干旱研究的重要进展,划分出了干旱事件的现象特征和时空分布、干旱形成机理及变化规律、干旱灾害风险和骤发性干旱研究兴起等中国干旱研究的4个主要发展过程。并从干旱事件特征、干旱时空分布、干旱变化规律、干旱成因、干旱影响机制、干旱风险形成过程以及干旱对气候变暖的响应、骤发性干旱的特殊性等方面归纳凝练了中国干旱研究的主要成果。同时,结合干旱研究的国际前沿、热点问题和发展趋势,科学分析了中国干旱研究的不足和问题,提出了中国未来干旱研究需要在加强典型干旱频发区综合性干旱科学试验研究的基础上,对干旱形成的多因子协同影响、陆-气作用对干旱形成发展的作用、骤发性干旱的判别及监测预测、各类干旱之间转换规律及其非一致性特征、关键影响期对农业干旱发展的作用、干旱对气候变暖响应的复杂性、干旱灾害风险的科学评估等重点科学问题上取得突破。      

北半球冬季110°—120°E垂直经向环流的年际变化及其与中国东部同期降水的关系

利用NCEP／NCAR再分析月平均风场资料和中国东部120个站的降水资料,分析了1951--2010年北半球冬季110°-120°E经向环流的气候特征,定义了北半球冬季110°-120°E低纬Hadley环流和中高纬气流强度指数,并分析了其强度的长期变化趋势以及对中国东部同期降水的影响。结果表明：（1）北半球冬季110°-120°E经向环流主要包括低纬Hadley环流和中高纬度从高层到低层较-致的偏北下沉气流。（2）北半球冬季110°-120°EHadley环流和中高纬气流强度有明显的年际和年代际变化,二者在长期变化趋势上表现-致,即在1990年以前呈约20a的振荡周期,且波动更大,而在1990年以后呈约10a的振荡周期,波动相对较小。（3）北半球冬季110°-120°E经向环流强度指数对中国东部同期降水的年际变率具有较高的解释率,二者在统计上呈显著的负相关关系。北半球冬季110°-120°EHadley环流强度和中国东部同期降水相关程度大值区集中在江南、华南及江淮地区,中高纬气流强度和中国东部同期降水相关程度大值区集中在西北、江淮及江南地区。（4）东亚地区冬季经向环流异常的显著差异主要表现在中高纬度反向的异常气流和中低纬度反向异常环流圈的变化。强（弱）经向风年,北半球中高纬度从高层到低层为异常的偏北（南）气流,中低纬度对流层存在顺时针（逆时针）方向闭合的异常经向环流,对应中国东部降水显著减少（增多）。     

黄河银川平原段河道演变的遥感监测与研究

 在遥感调查和监测的基础上，结合第四纪地质资料，对黄河银川平原段的河道演变过程进行了系统研究，对主要的河流改道原因进行了分析。研究表明： 黄河银川平原段在早更新世初期形成，此后，自西向东不断迁移； 在中晚更新世发展壮大，到全新世形成了银川平原的主体，并留下了明显的古河道遗迹； 到了现代，河道逐步变窄，向东迁移的趋势未变且速度依然很快。     

Gaussian approximations to conditional distributions for multi-Gaussian processes

Suppose a multi-Gaussian process is observed at some set of sites, and we wish to obtain the conditional block grade distribution given some observations. We show that this conditional distribution is approximately Gaussian under certain conditions. In particular, given a single observation from a continuous multi-Gaussian process, the conditional distribution under a small change of support is approximately Gaussian unless, roughly speaking, the observed process is twice differentiable and the observation site is at the center of mass of the support region. A Gaussian approximation for the conditional prediction error of the total ore in a fixed region is considered also, although an example demonstrates that a naive analysis can give incorrect limiting conditional means.     

The role and performance of ground-based networks in tracking the evolution of the ozone layer

In the 1980s, ground-based monitoring of the ozone layer played a key role in the discovery of the Antarctic Ozone Hole as well as in the first documentation of significant winter and spring long-term downward trends in the populated mid-latitude regions. The article summarizes the close-to-hundred-year-long history of ground-based measurements of stratospheric ozone, and more recent observations of constituents that influence its equilibrium. Ozone observations began long before the recognition of the impact of increasing emissions of manmade ozone-depleting substances on ozone and therefore on UV levels, human health, ecosystems and the Earth climate. The historical ozone observations prior to 1980s are used as a reference for the assessments of the state of the ozone layer linked to the enforcement of the Montreal Protocol. In this paper, we describe the worldwide monitoring networks and their ozone observations used to determine long-term trends with an accuracy of a few percent per decade. Since 1989, the ground-based monitoring activities have provided support for the amendments of the Montreal Protocol (MP). They include monitoring of (a) the ozone total column and the vertical distribution at global scale, (b) the ozone-depleting substances (ODS) related to the MP such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and their decomposition products in the stratosphere, and (c) the atmospheric species playing a role in ozone depletion, e.g., nitrogen oxides, water vapor, aerosols, polar stratospheric clouds. We highlight important accomplishments in the atmospheric monitoring performed by the Global Atmosphere Watch program (GAW) run under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and by the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). We also address the complementary roles of ground-based networks and satellite instruments. High-quality ground-based measurements have been used to evaluate ozone variabilities and long-term trends, assess chemistry climate models, and check the long-term stability of satellite data, including more recently the merged satellite time-series developed for the detection of ozone recovery at global scale, which might be further modified by climate change.     

What are the transitions of woodlands at the landscape level? Change trajectories of forest,non-forest and reclamation woody vegetation elements in a mining landscape in North-western Czech Republic

This study answers the following research questions: 1) What are the change trajectories of woody vegetation elements at the landscape level? 2) What are the differences in change trajectories amongst the various categories of forest, non-forest and reclamation woody vegetation? 3) How do the change trajectories differ in mining and non-mining landscapes? The study area, measuring 209.6 km², is located in the north-western part of the Czech Republic and may be broken down into 76.8 km² of mining landscape and 132.8 km² of non-mining landscape. Brown coal mining began in this region during the second half of the 18th century and led to the radical transformation of the landscape, including woodlands, during the second half of the 20th century. The source data for this study was obtained from the original stable cadastre maps (1842) and the landscape field mapping performed in 2010. The various woody vegetation elements (forest, non-forest, and reclamation woody plants) and land use/cover (LULC) categories were identified. The GIS symmetrical difference tool was subsequently used to perform an overlay analysis for the individual woody vegetation elements in order to study the change trajectories and to obtain information about the woodlands that have remained unchanged (continuous), the ones that have disappeared (extinct), and the ones that have newly appeared in the landscape (recent). In the case of the non-mining landscape, the total proportion of woodlands has increased (from 17 to 32%), but there has been a decline in the overall volume of forest woody plants found in these areas (from 93 to 74%). As far as the mining landscape is concerned, there has also been an increase in the area covered by woodlands (from 10 to 20%), however, the proportion of forest woody plants has decreased to a much greater extent (from 90 to 31%). From the perspective of extinct woody vegetation, 23.3% of all types of woodlands in the mining landscape may be classified as such, as compared to 10.8% in the non-mining landscape. The primary causes of this decline are mining activities and newly built-up areas. More continuous woody vegetation may be found in the non-mining landscape (42.1%) as compared to the mining landscape (15.4%). Recent woody vegetation, which has primarily replaced grasslands and partially arable land, prevails in both the mining (61.3%) as well as the non-mining (47.1%) landscapes. Different categories of woodlands (forest, non-forest, and reclamation woody vegetation elements) exhibit various change dynamics due to their different structure and the functions they serve. At the most basic level, there has been an overall increase in the occurrence of woodlands in the studied areas. However, once GIS spatial analysis is applied it is possible to see more complex processes in the development of woodland areas as characterised by gains and losses, and it is possible to identify mining and agricultural extensification as the two most significant factors behind the historical changes. Mining leads to a direct decrease in the area of woodlands; conversely, the spontaneous succession of vegetation resulting from agricultural extensification and forest reclamation facilitates woodland recovery. Forest reclamation and reforestation are essential on order to ensure the time continuity of woodlands in both types of landscape, i.e. mining and non-mining. The study presented in this paper proves that it is relevant to analyse the changes occurring in different woodland categories separately. The same methodology may be applied when studying the change dynamics of other important landscape elements, such as wood pastures and wetlands.     

21st century climate change: where has all the geomorphology gone?

This Commentary draws together recently published work relating to the relationship between climate change and geomorphology to address the surprising observation that geomorphic work seems to have had little impact upon the work of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. However, recent papers show that methodological innovation has allowed geomorphological reconstruction over timescales highly relevant to late 20th century and 21st century climate change. In turn, these and other developments are allowing links to be made between climatic variability and geomorphology, to begin to predict ‘geomorphic futures’ and also to appreciate the role that geomorphic processes play in the flux of carbon and the carbon cycle. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Institutional interaction to address greenhouse gas emissions from international transport: ICAO,IMO and the Kyoto Protocol

Abstract

In response to Article 2.2 of the Kyoto Protocol, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) have begun to consider greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international aviation and shipping. However, neither ICAO nor IMO have taken any effective action on the issue yet and progress can be characterised as slow. The lack of action has so far not been made up for by measures within the climate change regime or by individual countries. An important motivation for the efforts of ICAO and IMO so far has been the potential regulatory competition with the climate change regime. However, given the lack of political will to act on the issue within the latter, this motivation has not been very forceful. Against this backdrop, I argue that there are in particular three options for furthering progress within ICAO and IMO, namely (1) enhancing the threat of regulation of GHG emissions from international transport under the climate change regime; (2) undertaking unilateral domestic action by various countries (in particular the EU); and (3) furthering a learning process within ICAO and IMO. Furthermore, a closer coordination of efforts under ICAO, IMO and the climate change regime could facilitate and accelerate progress.     

Economic and environmental effectiveness of a technology-based climate protocol

Abstract

The present stalemate in climate negotiations between the USA and the other Annex I countries has led policy analysts and economists to explore the possible emergence of alternative climate regimes that may be applied after 2012. This article explores the idea of replacing international cooperation on greenhouse gas emission control with international cooperation on climate-related technological innovation and diffusion. This idea—recently proposed among others by Barrett (2001) and Benedick (2001)—is based on the insight that incentives to free-ride are much smaller in the case of technological cooperation than in the case of cooperation on emission control. This article provides a first applied game theory analysis of a technology-based climate protocol by assessing: (i) the self-enforcingness (namely, the absence of incentives to free-ride) of the coalition that would form when countries negotiate on climate-related technological cooperation; (ii) the environmental effectiveness of a technology-based climate protocol. The analysis is carried out by using a model in which endogenous and induced technical change are explicitly modelled. The results of our analysis partly support Barrett's and Benedick's conjectures. On the one hand, a self-enforcing agreement is more likely to emerge when countries cooperate on environmental technological innovation and diffusion than when they cooperate on emission abatement. However, technological cooperation—without any commitment to emission control—may not lead to a sufficient abatement of greenhouse gas concentrations.     

Common but differentiated convergence (CDC): a new conceptual approach to long-term climate policy

Abstract

This article describes a new concept for an international climate regime for differentiation of future commitments: the ‘common but differentiated convergence’ approach (CDC). Under CDC, Annex-I countries' per-capita emission allowances converge within a convergence period to a low level. Individual non-Annex-I countries' allowances converge to the same level also within the same period (‘common convergence’), but starting when their per-capita emissions are a certain percentage above global average (‘differentiated’). Until then they may voluntarily take on ‘positively binding’ targets. This approach eliminates two concerns often voiced in relation to gradually converging per-capita emissions: (i) advanced developing countries have their commitment to reduce emissions delayed and their targets are not the same as Annex-I countries with equal per-capita emissions; (ii) CDC does not provide excess emission allowances to the least developing countries. Under CDC, stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations at 550 and 650 ppm CO₂-equivalent can be reached with participation at roughly 0% and 50% above global average and convergence to around 3 and 4.5 tCO₂-eq/cap within 40 years. Even if the CDC approach is not implemented in its entirety, it is possible that the step-by-step decisions on the international climate regime can be guided by the principles provided in the CDC approach.