| Title | Climate change from 1960 to 2000 in the Lancang River valley, China |
| Author | He, YL |
| Publication | MOUNTAIN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Corresponding Author | He, YL |
| Abstract | Archival data of monthly air temperature and precipitation series were used to investigate climate change trends and characteristics during 1960-2000 at 19 stations along Lancang River from the north to the south, in the mountainous Himalayan region of southwest China. The magnitude of a trend was estimated using Sen's Nonparametric Estimator of Slope approach. The station significance of a trend was assessed by the MK test. Over the observation period of 41 years, mean annual air temperature increased at the rate of 0.01 degrees C/yr to 0.04 degrees C/yr in 12 stations at the significance level alpha = 0.01. The changes in precipitation in different areas are very dissimilar and complex. Mean annual precipitation that decreased from -2.86 mm/yr to -5.29 mm/yr at 3 stations, and mean annual precipitation that increased from 5.77 mm/yr and 7.44 mm/yr at 2 stations, were statistically significant at the significance level alpha = 0.05. The lower reaches of Lancang River experienced much more severe temperature increase, precipitation decrease, and drought development than the upper reaches in the past 41 years. |
