Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2014, Vol. 69 ›› Issue (5): 632-639.doi: 10.11821/dlxb201405006

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Characteristics and origins of drought disasters in Southwest China in nearly 60 years

HAN Lanying1,2,3, ZHANG Qiang4,5, YAOYubi1, LI Yiping1, JIA Jianying2, WANG Jing1   

  1. 1. Key Open Laboratory of Arid Climatic Change and Reducing Disaster of Gansu Province/Key Open Laboratory of Arid Climatic Change and Reducing Disaster of CMA/Institute of Arid Meteorology, CMA, Lanzhou 730020, China;
    2. Northwest Regional Climate Center, Lanzhou 730000;
    3. College of Atmospheric Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China;
    4. Meteorology Bureau of Gansu, Lanzhou 730020, China;
    5. Meteorology Bureau of Dingxi, Dingxi 744300, Gansu, China
  • Received:2014-01-19 Revised:2014-03-12 Online:2014-05-20 Published:2014-05-20
  • Supported by:
    National Key BasicResearch Program of China, No.2013CB430200 (2013CB430206);Natural Science Fund of Gansu Province, No.1208RJYA027;Gansu Meteorological Bureau Project, No.2010-08;No.2012-11

Abstract: Drought is a meteorological disaster that causes huge losses to agricultural yields every year. This paper analyzed drought trends based on statistical disaster data, which included drought-induced areas, drought-affected areas, and lost harvests under the effects of global warming. The results showed that droughts are becoming more critical and frequent in China. The agricultural effects of drought for drought-induced areas, drought-affected areas, lost harvest areas and comprehensive loss rate increased in the last 60 years in each province of Southwest China. It is important to examine the spatial and temporal changes in the agricultural effects of drought in guiding disaster mitigation work. This paper analyzed the drought conditions in large farming areas of Southwest China, which were frequently hit by serious droughts. Total drought area ranked first in Sichuan Province, second in Guizhou Province, and third in Yunnan Province. The average annual comprehensive loss rate accounted for 3.9% in Southwest China, and increased in recent years. Drought tolerance of all provinces is related to regional climate change effects, such as temperature, precipitation, moisture, and vegetation coverage.

Key words: agricultural loss rate, meteorological data, drought disaster, spatial and temporal distribution