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Study on Climate Change in Southwestern China

Part of the book series: Springer Theses ((Springer Theses))

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Abstract

Southwestern China includes the Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou Provinces, the Xizang Autonomous Region, and Chongqing Municipality, with an area of 2.333×106 km2, accounting for 24.5 % of the total land area of China. The topography declines from west to east and from north to south. There are four geomorphic units: the Xizang Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains, the Sichuan basin, and the Yunnan–Guizhou plateau. Southwestern China is a typical monsoonal climate region, controlled by the South Asian monsoon but also influenced by the East Asian monsoon. In addition, it is influenced by the Xizangan Plateau monsoon and the Westerlies. According to the Chinese Glacier Inventory, there were 23221 glaciers in southwestern China, covering an area of 29,523 km2, which is 50.16 % of the total glacier number and 49.69 % of the total glacier area in China. Climate research has concentrated mainly on sub-regions or single districts over the study region, however, there has been little systematic analysis of climate change in the whole region. Here, the temporal–spatial variation and its causes of climate change and the glaciers’ response in southwestern China during 1961–2008 have been analyzed, based on meteorological data from 110 stations, NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and, and the records of glacier changes from field observations and previous studies.

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    Zongxing Li

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Li, Z. (2015). Introduction. In: Study on Climate Change in Southwestern China. Springer Theses. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44742-0_1

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