Zongxing Li

Climate and glacier change in southwestern China during the past several decades

Glaciers are distributed in the Nyainqntanglha Mountains, Himalayas, Tanggula Mountains, Gangdise Mountains and Hengduan Mountains in Southwestern China. Daily temperature and precipitation data from 111 stations, together with the records of glacier changes, indicate that temperature patterns during 1961?2008 were consistent with warming at a statistically significant level. Seasonal warming was greatest in autumn and winter. Temperature rise showed a significant relationship with sea surface temperature in the Western Pacific, net longwave radiation flux, altitude, sunshine hours, strengthening anticyclonic circulations in summer and anomalous cyclonic circulation in winter. The increase was more apparent in higher altitude areas than in lower ones. Precipitation variations were less marked than those of temperature, generally showing weak decreasing trends during 1961?2008. Increasing trends were apparent only in spring and winter, when regional trends of precipitation increases with altitude also were evident. The strengthening Western Pacific Subtropical Highs were related to precipitation variation. Against the background of increasing temperature, especially the increasing warming with altitude, the fronts of 32 glaciers and areas of 13 glacial basins have retreated, mass losses of 10 glaciers have been considerable, glacial lakes in six regions have expanded and melt water discharge of four basins has also increased, but these glaciers and basins in our study are only a fraction of the retreating glaciers over southwestern China.

Altitude dependency of trends of daily climate extremes in southwestern China, 1961–2008

A total of 12 indices of temperature extremes and 11 indices of precipitation extremes at 111 stations in southwestern China at altitudes of 285–4700 m were examined for the period 1961–2008. Significant correlations of temperature extremes and elevation included the trends of diurnal temperature range, frost days, ice days, cold night frequency and cold day frequency. Regional trends of growing season length, warm night frequency, coldest night and warmest night displayed a statistically significant positive correlation with altitude. These characteristics indicated the obvious warming with altitude. For precipitation extreme indices, only the trends of consecutive dry days, consecutive wet days, wet day precipitation and the number of heavy precipitation days had significant correlations with increasing altitude owing to the complex influence of atmospheric circulation. It also indicated the increased precipitation mainly at higher altitude areas, whereas the increase of extreme precipitation events mainly at lowers altitude. In addition, the clearly local influences are also crucial on climate extremes. The analysis revealed an enhanced sensitivity of climate extremes to elevation in southwestern China in the context of recent warming.

Spatial distribution and temporal trends in potential evapotranspiration over Hengduan Mountains region from 1960 to 2009

Based on the meteorological data of 20 stations in the Hengduan Mountains region during 1961–2009, the annual and seasonal variation of potential evapotranspiration was analyzed in combination with the Penman-Monteith model. With the method of Spline interpolation under ArcGIS, the spatial distribution of potential evapotranspiration was presented to research the regional difference, and the correlation analysis was used to discuss the dominant factor affecting the potential evapotranspiration. The results indicated that the annual potential evapotranspiration showed a decreasing tendency since the 1960s, especially from the 1980s to 1990s, while it showed an increasing tendency since 2000. Regional potential evapotranspiration showed a rate of −0.17 mm a−1. Potential evapotranspiration in north, middle and south of the Hengduan Mountains exhibited decreasing trends over the studied period, and its regional trend was on the decline from southwest to northeast.

Changes of the hydrological cycle in two typical Chinese monsoonal temperate glacier basins: A response to global warming?

Studying the response to warming of hydrological systems in China’s temperate glacier region is essential in order to provide information required for sustainable development. The results indicated the warming climate has had an impact on the hydrological cycle. As the glacier area subject to melting has increased and the ablation season has become longer, the contribution of meltwater to annual river discharge has increased. The earlier onset of ablation at higher elevation glaciers has resulted in the period of minimum discharge occurring earlier in the year. Seasonal runoff variations are dominated by snow and glacier melt, and an increase of meltwater has resulted in changes of the annual water cycle in the Lijiang Basin and Hailuogou Basin. The increase amplitude of runoff in the downstream region of the glacial area is much stronger than that of precipitation, resulting from the prominent increase of meltwater from glacier region in two basins. Continued observations in the glacierized basins should be undertaken in order to monitor changes, to reveal the relationships between climate, glaciers, hydrology and water supplies, and to assist in maintaining sustainable regional development.

The protective shell: sclereids and their mechanical function in corollas of some species of Camellia (Theaceae).

Studies of rain-wash effects on pollen have shown that flower structures can protect susceptible pollen from rain. It remains unclear, however, how a thin corolla can withstand external force and perform its protective function. The sclereids in petals of several species of Camellia (Theaceae) were anatomically investigated to determine their mechanical properties. To examine the effects of changing physical environment on the occurrence of sclereids in petals, sclereid density in petals of six species, including wild samples from different rainfall zones and samples from a greenhouse under mild conditions without wind and rain, were examined and statistically analysed. The results showed that the occurrence of sclereids in petals varied with physical environment. The number of sclereids in the same species increased with the increasing rainfall. There were abundant sclereids in petals of the wild species, but few or no sclereids in species cultivated in the greenhouse. Moreover, the anatomical features of sclereids, especially the unique distribution pattern that has not hitherto been described, were correlated with external environmental pressures. Our observations reveal a novel mechanical system in the corolla and provide further evidence for the hypothesis that flower structures may protect rain-susceptible pollen.

Impact of anthropogenic and natural processes on the chemical compositions of precipitation at a rapidly urbanized city in Northwest China

In this study, the chemical composition of precipitation was applied as an indicator to study the influence of urbanization on the atmosphere in Qilian County, a northwest city in China. The results showed that the annual mean pH calculated from the concentration of H+ was 7.35 due to alkaline ion neutralization, and Ca2+ had the largest contribution. Ca2+ and SO42− were the most abundant ions, accounting for 45 and 17%, respectively, of the total ion mass. The correlation coefficient between SO42− and NO3− reaching 0.85 in the urban area indicated the same source. The highest concentration of sulfate in spring was probably related to the strong wind in Northwest China, while the concentration of nitrate was the highest in winter suggesting that most of the nitrate originated from coal combustion, not vehicle emission. The application of factor and cluster analysis indicated that 38.43% of the SO42− and 16.97% of the NO3− in Qilian County were from crustal sources, while 61.5% of the SO42− and 83.03% of the NO3− originated from the human activities. The back trajectory analysis indicated that the pollution emitted from the surrounding areas also made a great contribution to the local atmospheric quality. Thus the communication and cooperation mechanisms with surrounding cities and improvement of energy consumption efficiency should be strengthened in the next few years.