Seasonal characters of regional vegetation activity in response to climate change in West China in recent 20 years

Using NDVI data of NOAA-AVHRR in recent 20 years and the temperature and precipitation data of West China, the vegetation activity is discussed by adopting the EOF and REOF decomposed functions. Results show that the overall increasing trend of vegetation activity in different seasons reflects an advanced and prolonged growth period of vegetation under the circumstance of climate warming, but the vegetation evolvement has much inconsistency between different regions and seasons. There are four notable regions, eight sub-areas for vegetation evolvement in spring and summer, and nine sub-areas in autumn. The vegetation activity in most sub-areas is increasing. The most notable region is represented by Lhaze station on the Tibetan Plateau. Two other marked stations are represented by Altay station in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Pengshui station in Sichuan Province. But the time series analysis of NDVI makes clear that the trends of the other two sub-areas, Turpan station in Xinjiang and Huashan station in Shaanxi Province, are descending. It is an important reason for vegetation evolvement that temperature ascends in most of the regions and descends in the east region in some seasons. But another important reason for vegetation evolvement is that precipitation is ascending in the west and descending in the east of the region.

AN APPROACH ON THE INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND INDUSTRIAL LOCATION IN WEST CHINA

The Paper gives a general review of the industrial development process in West China. discusses the basic characteristics and problems of the region's industrial structure and location in terms of industrial branch composition, industrial distribution, linkages between state-owned enterprises and local industrial enterprises, and comparisons of West China with coastal zone of East China. Suggestions are given for future development.

Problems in the Development of Small Cities and Towns in West China and Countermeasures: A Case Study of Luzhou City, Sichuan Province

New urbanization targets at coordinated urban-rural development, and construction of ecological and livable environment, it is the foundation for breaking urban-rural dual structure of China and promoting the agricultural modernization. Small cities and towns as carriers of new urbanization have already become important paths of realizing new urbanization and solving problems concerning 300 million peasants in China. Considering the requirements of new urbanization, this paper took Luzhou City in Sichuan Province for example to explore development path suitable for small cities and towns in west China and gave pertinent suggestions.

Use of FDI in West China Increases

The increase of actual use of foreign investment in China’s western regions exceeded the nation’s average by 128 percentage points in the first two months this year,said an official of the ministry of commerce on Sunday.

An Outline of the CAS Action Plan for the Development of West China

1. It is a historic commitment for CAS staff tomake fundamental, strategic and forward-lookingcontributions to the development of west China. The large-scale development strategy for westChina is an essential component of Comrade DengXiaoping’s strategic thinking on China’s moderni-zation drive. which encompasses the developmentof both the coastal areas and the interior. Accordingto his thinking, the coastal areas in east China wouldtake the initiative in development through

The Statistical Significance Test of Regional Climate Change Caused by Land Use and Land Cover Variation in West China

The West Development Policy being implemented in China is causing significant land use and land cover （LULC） changes in West China. With the up-to-date satellite database of the Global Land Cover Characteristics Database （GLCCD） that characterizes the lower boundary conditions, the regional climate model RIEMS-TEA is used to simulate possible impacts of the significant LULC variation. The model was run for five continuous three-month periods from 1 June to 1 September of 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997, and the results of the five groups are examined by means of a student t-test to identify the statistical significance of regional climate variation. The main results are： （1） The regional climate is affected by the LULC variation because the equilibrium of water and heat transfer in the air-vegetation interface is changed. （2） The integrated impact of the LULC variation on regional climate is not only limited to West China where the LULC varies, but also to some areas in the model domain where the LULC does not vary at all. （3） The East Asian monsoon system and its vertical structure are adjusted by the large scale LULC variation in western China, where the consequences are the enhancement of the westward water vapor transfer from the east oast and the relevant increase of wet-hydrostatic energy in the middle-upper atmospheric layers. （4） The ecological engineering in West China affects significantly the regional climate in Northwest China, North China and the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River; there are obvious effects in South, Northeast, and Southwest China, but minor effects in Tibet.

Research on Impact Mechanism and Power System of Urbanization in West China

Based on the current situation of urbanization development in West China, this paper analyses main factors responsible for sluggish urbanization in West China as follows: impact of environment factor, impact of population quality and quantity, lagging of public product service, stagnancy of technological development, backwardness of slow growth, and rigidity of system building. And then this paper analyses the restriction mechanism of urbanization in West China: at the superficial level, the constraints of urbanization in West China arise from the shortage of capital; at the profound level, the backward culture contributes to the constraints of urbanization in West China. The thread of resolving restriction mechanism of urbanization in West China is put forward from system, economy and culture. On the basis of this thread, we construct the power system for the development of urbanization in West China. The power system for urbanization in West China should be propelled by "four forces", namely, pull of external forces, cohesive strength of regional market environment, expansion power inside countryside, traction of industrial structure adjustment. Innovation is the engine of impetus for urbanization in West China; spatial clustering and modernization of industry is the major driving force for urbanization; the government behaviour, driving of foreign investment, great projects and other forces are supplementary power. Via the main power, we should take the market as medium to achieve the role of power in promoting urbanization.

TREND SURFACE ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTENT SNOWLINE IN WEST CHINA

The analysis of twenty five existent snowline elevation values in West China indicates that snowline elevationH (meter) presents zonality change declining from south to north with latitude φ(degree) and the change declining from west to east with longitude which relates to the distance L (kilometer) to the east coastline. Therefore, the first order trend surface equation of the snowline in West China shows a plane incline from southwest to northeast. The second order trend surface equation of the snowline in West China truly represents the distribution law of the snowline in West China. Its form resembles a 'overturned anticline' from southwest to northeast. The 'raised axis' seems to be superimposed upon the first order trend surface.It reflects the effect of the relief. The snowline elevation in West China depends on horizontal zonality,distribution of ocean and land,and the relief.

ABRUPT CHANGE OF LAKE ENVIRONMENT IN WEST CHINA: AN EVIDENCE FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE WARMING

Expanding or shrinking of lakes, especially in the closed basin, directly reflects the balance situation of water\|heat regime in the catchment. Fluctuations of the water\|level can be used as an indicator of climatic and environmental changes. Authors have investigated many lakes in West China in recent years, including lakes in the Tibet Plateau and in the arid area in the northwest China. We found that all lakes have been in shrinkage, some of them were changed into swamp and some dried dramatically up, which caused the abrupt change of the lake environment. This change led the grassland to be retrogression and desertification, and made the eco\|environment deterioration in West China.The Xingcuo Lake, in the height of 3425m ASL with 29km\+2 drainage area, located in the Zoige Basin, Northeastern Tibet Plateau, had changed into swamp in the area of 2km\+2 , and the vast area of peripheral marsh changed into grassland by the years of 1990. But the topographic map in the scale of 1/100000 and aerial photography surveyed at the end of 1960’s show clearly that this lake was in the area of 3 3km\+2 and surrounded by vast area of marshland. In the north central part of the Tibet Plateau, the Gourencuo Lake, in the height of 4650m ASL, was in the area of 23 5km\+2 with the average water depth of 1 3m in 1990. Then a dramatic change had been appearing in the recent years. When authors went there again in 1998,they found that the lake dried fully up. A thin salt crystal layer with saturated brine covered the flat central lake floor. This means that at least 30×10 6 m 3 water volume stored in the lake had been lost by the evaporation in 8 years, and many sand dunes had been formed. This abrupt change of lake environment could be recognized as the result of natural process or climate warming because of no human activity there.

Distributed Generation Application in the Rural Areas of West China

In this paper, at first the appearance background electricity grid in the rural areas of west China, and its meaning as well as the concept and structure of DG technologies are resented, and a DG technologies mode of development in the rural areas of west China is given. The development ideas and the future development direction of DG in are compared and summarized. At last, the significance of DG in future development of the rural areas of west China is prospected and some problems to be especially considered in the domestic research on DG technologies are put forward.

Conflicts Affecting Sustainable Development in West China since the Start of China’s Western Development Policy

West China provides important ecological services to the rest of the country, and has attracted great attention because of its serious ecological degradation and frequent natural disasters, and its strong connection with the industrial and economic development in East China. In order to strengthen ecological restoration and promote sustainable economic development in West China, the Chinese government adopted the Western Development Policy, which offered financial aid to and initiated a large number of projects in the region. Although many previous studies have emphasized the positive effects of ecological restoration in West China on ecological security and sustainable development of China, relatively less attention has been paid to analyzing multiple conflicts related to sustainable development in the region. This paper examines the main development goals and interests that have caused these conflicts. The authors suggest that integrated conflict management should be carried out for the sustainable development in West China.