黄土高原及其毗邻地区环境问题之我见

SOME VIEWS ON THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE LOESS PLATEAU AND ITS ADJACENT REGIONS

黄土高原及其毗邻地区包括以晋、陕、甘为主体的黄土高原,面积约35.85万平方公里,及其周围与之有关联的黄土分布区,范围大致是阴山以南、秦岭以北、太行山以西及日月山和贺兰山以东的地域。两者合计面积为62.38万平方公里。在那里,水土流失、风沙危害、干旱缺水以及洪涝和盐碱是共同存在的、长期困扰着人们的严重环境问题,不仅阻碍着当地社会、经济的发展,而且给其他地区,如华北平原造成危害。关于本区环境问题的成因及其防治等问题存在着各种不同的看法。本文拟就此进行探讨,以求教于前辈和同行。

The Loess Plateau and its adjacent regions are in the critical eco-envi-ronmental zone of China, which is from subhumid to semi-arid,from forestto steppe and from agricultural regions to animal husbandry regions. Thereare serious environmental problems such as the most extensive and serioussoil erosion in the world, desertification, water shortage for crops, flooddamage, increased soil salinity as well as increased industrial pollution. Fora long time there have been different views on the formation, control andmanagement of these natural calamities which are discussed in this paper.It is pointed out that the unfavourable environmental conditions are the in-ternal causes which lead to serious environmental problems and that unfavou-rable human activities are the external causes. At present control andmanagment of these problems fails to prevent further deterioration, thisrequires comprehensive managment which includes: (1) A combination of control and utilization which should be carriedout without due emphasis on either one. (2) Regional variations must betaken into account as the key to managment, and over-all planning anddirecting as classification should be carried out. (3) The educational levelof the people must be raised and the managment consciousness stregthened.(4)Investment in managment should be increased. The problems of est-ablishing a functional system to control environmental deterioration arealso discussed in the paper.