打通“气化长江”瓶颈须解决的三个问题

自交通运输部于2013年发布《关于推进水运行业应用液化天然气的指导意见》以来,国家在政策引导、试点项目推广方面已经出台了大量政策性指导文件,鼓励液化天然气在水运行业以及船舶动力技术上的开发应用。液化天然气在国内船舶动力运用已近10年,但"气化长江"战略仍陷入发展的瓶颈期,主要存在相关规范体系不健全、水上LNG加注站建设审批难和加注站运营难等三方面的问题需引起关注并予以解决。

“气化长江”油改气绿色工程背景下绿色航运现状及发展策略

为实现长江航运的绿色低碳高质量发展,从国家政策、经济发展和行业升级等方面介绍“气化长江”油改气绿色工程打造绿色航运的重要意义,通过对比多种其他能源方式,阐述液化天然气(LNG)是船舶实现绿色低碳发展最现实可行的途径。分析预测长江LNG动力船的燃料市场容量,提出未来实施策略。对配套的LNG船加注站现状进行剖析,给出相应的未来发展策略建议。长江船舶使用LNG燃料是现阶段实施“气化长江”油改气绿色工程打造绿色航运的最好选择,具有非常广阔和良好的发展前景。

关于助力南通率先打造LNG船舶进江中转枢纽港的探讨

为贯彻落实党中央关于推进美丽中国建设的部署要求,助推长江经济带科学、绿色、高质量发展,积极响应“气化长江”长期战略目标,南通海事局立足深入推进“大通州湾”建设,助推沿海LNG产业集群发展,发挥专业优势,积极主动思考,助力南通率先打造LNG船舶进江中转枢纽港。

江海直达LNG运输船总体方案设计

以水运行业应用液化天然气示范工程和“气化长江”项目为背景，根据市场发展需要，开展了6000m^3江海直达LNG运输船的方案设计，并从船型主尺度、货物系统、推进方案三个主要方面介绍了其设计原则及要点。

Potential control of climatic changes on flood events in the Yangtze Delta during1100-2002

Wide collection on the historic records of the climatic changes and flood events is performed in the Yangtze Delta. Man-Kendall (MK) method is applied to explore the changing trends of the time series of the flood discharge and the maximum high summer temperature. The research results indicate that the flood magnitudes increased during the transition from the medieval warm interval into the early Little Ice Age. Fluctuating climate changes of the Little Ice Age characterized by arid climate events followed by the humid and cold climate conditions give rise to the frequent flood hazards. Low-lying terrain made the study region prone to the flood hazards, storm tide and typhoon. MK analysis reveals that the jumping point of the time series of the flood discharge changes occurred in the mid-1960s, that of the maximum summer temperature changes in the mid-1990s, and the exact jump point in 1993. The flood discharge changes are on negative trend before the 1990s, they are on positive tendency after the 1990s; the maximum high summer temperature changes are on negative trend before the 1990s and on positive tendency after the 1990s. These results indicate that the trend of flood discharge matches that of the maximum high summer temperature in the Yangtze Delta. The occurrence probability of the maximum high summer temperature will be increasing under the climatic warming scenario and which will in turn increase the occurrence probability of the flood events. More active solar action epochs and the higher sea surface temperature index (SST index) of the south Pacific Ocean area lying between 4 o N-4 o S and 150 o W-90 o W correspond to increased annual precipitation, flood discharge and occurrence frequency of floods in the Yangtze Delta. This is partly because the intensified solar activities and the higher SST index give rise to accelerated hydrological circulation from ocean surface to the continent, resulting in increased precipitation on the continent.

Prediction of China's Submerged Coastal Areas by Sea Level Rise due to Climate Change

Based on the simulation with the Ocean-Atmosphere Coupled Model CCSM and Ocean Model POP under the green- house gas emission scenario of the IPCC SRES A2 （IPCC, 2001）, and on the earth crust subsidence and glacier melting data, the relative sea level change is obtained along the coast of China in the 21 st century. Using the SRTM elevation data the submergence of coastal low land is calculated under the extreme water level with a 100-year retum period. The total flooding areas are 98.3× 10^3 and 104.9× 10^3 km2 for 2050 and 2080, respectively. For the three regions most vulnerable to extreme sea level rise, i.e., the coast of Bohai Bay, the Yangtze River Delta together with neighboring Jiangsu Province and northern Zhejiang Province, and the Pearl River Delta, the flooded areas are 5.0× 10^3, 64.1×10^3 and 15.3 × 10^3 km2 in 2050 and 5.2 × 10^3, 67.8×10^3 and 17.2 × 10^3 km2 in 2080, respectively.

DECADAL CLIMATE VARIABILITY OF RAINFALL AROUND THE MIDDLE AND LOWER REACHES OF THE YANGTZE RIVER AND ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION

This study examined the rainfall around the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and related atmospheric circulation by using NCEP reanalysis data. The purpose of this study is to analyze their decadal variation and the relationship among rainfall, atmospheric circulation around East Asia and the ENSO episodes. Current results are presented as follows: (1) Very clear increasing trend of the rainfall around the middle and low reaches of the Yangtze River during the Meiyu period and June to July is found in the recent 15 years. Meanwhile, the geopotential height at 500 hPa around the Okhotsk Sea also holds similar increasing trend. It is noticeable that ENSO episodes tend to occur more frequently in the recent 15 years. (2) An index describing East Asian summer monsoon is well correlated with the SST in the Nino-3 region in preceding autumn in the recent 20 years but is not prior to the period. This means that the El Nino phenomenon exerts more impacts on East Asian summer monsoon recently. (3) The warm phase of PDO in the recent 20 years basically coincides with the increasing trend of the atmospheric circulation in East Asia.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS ON HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN THE CHANGJIANG RIVER DELTA IN NEOLITHIC AGE

Dating data, altitude of Neolithic sites, climatic changes from sedimentary records and previous research results were collected and analyzed to detect possible connections between climatic changes and human activities in the Changjiang River Delta in the Neolithic Age. The results indicated that hydrological changes greatly impacted the human activities in the study region. Low-lying geomorphology made the floods and sea level changes become the important factors affecting human activities, especially the altitude change of human settlements. People usually moved to higher places during the periods characterized by high sea level and frequent floods to escape the negative influences from water body expansion, which resulted in cultural hiatus in certain profiles. However, some higher-altitude settlements were not the results of climatic changes but the results of social factors, such as religious ceremony and social status. Therefore, further research will be necessary for the degree and types of impacts of climatic changes on human activities in the study area at that time.

Risk Assessment of Carbon Sequestration for Terrestrial Ecosystems in China

Climate change will alter the capacity of carbon sequestration,and the risk assessment of carbon sequestration for terrestrial ecosystems will be helpful to the decision-making for climate change countermeasures and international climate negotiations.Based on the net ecosystem productivity of terrestrial ecosystems simulated by Atmosphere Vegetation Integrated Model,each grid of the risk criterion was set by time series trend analysis.Then the risks of carbon sequestration of terrestrial ecosystems were investigated.The results show that,in the IPCCSRES-B2 climate scenario,climate change will bring risks of carbon sequestration,and the high-risk level will dominate terrestrial ecosystems.The risk would expand with the increase of warming degree.By the end of the long-term of this century,about 60% of the whole country will face the risk;Northwest China,mountainous areas in Northeast China,middle and lower reaches plain of Yangtze River areas,Southwest China and Southeast China tend to be extremely vulnerable.Risk levels in most regions are likely to grow with the increase of warming degree,and this increase will mainly occur during the near-term to mid-term.Northwest China will become an area of high risks,and deciduous coniferous forests,temperate mixed forests and desert grassland tend to be extremely vulnerable.

Projecting Spatial Patterns of Flood Hazard: Recent Climate and Future Changes over Yangtze River Basin

Projection of hazard changes in climate extremes is critical to assessing the potential impacts of climate change on human and natural systems. Using simulations of providing regional climates for impacts studies, five indicators (rainstorm days, maximum 3-day precipitation, elevation, gradient and distance from river or lake) were selected to project the spatial patterns of flood hazard over Yangtze River Basin for the baseline period (1961– 1990) and future (2011–2100) under SRES B2 scenario. The results showed the mean annual rainstorm days over the basin by the near-term, mid-term and long-term would increase from 3.9 days to 4.7, 4.9 and 5.1 days, and the mean annual maximum 3-day precipitation from 122 mm to 143, 146 and 149 mm, respectively. The flood hazard of the basin would become more severe, especially in the middle and lower reaches. Flood hazard grade 5 by the nearterm, mid-term and long-term would extend from 10.99% to 25.46, 28.14 and 29.75%, respectively.

Variations of Terrestrial Water Storage in the Yangtze River Basin under Climate Change Scenarios

In this study, the water balance-based Precipitation-Evapotranspiration-Runoff (PER) method combined with the land surface model Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) was used to estimate the spatiotemporal variations of terrestrial water storage (TWS) for two periods, 1982-2005 (baseline) and 2071-2100, under future climate scenarios A2 and B2 in the Yangtze River basin. The results show that the estimated TWS during the baseline period and under the two future climate scenarios have similar seasonal amplitudes of 60-70 mm. The higher values of TWS appear in June during the baseline period and under the B2 scenario, whereas the TWS under A2 shows two peaks in response to the related precipitation pattern. It also shows that the TWS is recharged from February to June during the baseline period, but it is replenished from March to June under the A2 and B2 scenarios. An analysis of the standard derivation of seasonal and interannual TWS time series under the three scenarios demonstrates that the seasonal TWS of the southeastern part of the Yangtze River basin varies remarkably and that the southeastern and central parts of the basin have higher variations in interannual TWS. With respect to the first mode of the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF), the inverse-phase change in seasonal TWS mainly appears across the Guizhou-Sichuan-Shaanxi belt, and the entire basin generally represents a synchronous change in interannual TWS. As a whole, the TWS under A2 presents a larger seasonal variation whereas that under B2 displays a greater interannual variation. These results imply that climate change could trigger severe disasters in the southeastern and central parts of the basin.

Analysis of the Motive for the Use of LNG-Powered Ships in the Inland Waters of Yangtze River

The fuels that hardly pollute water body and atmospheric environment during burning are regarded as clean fuels. Liquefied Petroleum Gas （LPG）, Compressed Natural Gas （CNG） and Liquefied Natural Gas （LNG） are three representative clean fuels that are widely used in the shipping industry. From both ecological and economic point of view, LNG is treated as the best fuels in shipping industry by the ship-owners and Chinese government. In this paper, the wide applications of LNG-powered ships are analyzed from three aspects, including the global energy source structure, economic demands and the formulation of international conventions. Also, the functions of relevant domestic policies on how to accelerate LNG-powered ships widely used in inland waters of Yangtze river, China are summarized. At last, the reasons of the use of LNG-powered ships in inland waters of China in recent years under the impulsion of various factors are discussed in the end.

Coupling the Occurrence of Correlative Plant Species to Predict the Habitat Suitability for Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) under Climate Change: A Case Study in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

Climate change and human activities influence species biodiversity by altering their habitats. This paper quantitatively analyzed the effects of climate change on a migratory bird. The Lesser White-fronted Goose(LWfG), a species which migrates via the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River region, is an herbivorous species of high ecological value. It is an endangered species threatened by climate change and human activities, so comprehensive information about its distribution is required. To assess the effectiveness of conservation of the LWfG under climate change, both climate variables and human activities are often used to predict the potential changes in the distribution and habitat suitability for LWfG. In this work, the current scenario and the Global Circulation Models(GCMs) climate scenarios were used to simulate the future distribution of the species. However, besides climate change and human activities, the spatial pattern of plants surrounding the wetland is also known to be closely related to the distribution of LWfG. Therefore, the distribution model results of six plant species related to LWfG’s diet selection were used as environment variables to reflect the changes of suitable LWfG habitat. These environmental variables significantly improved the model’s performance for LWfG, since the birds were clearly influenced by the plant distribution factors. Meanwhile, the suitable habitat area decreases by 2070 in GCM models under two representative concentration pathways scenarios(RCP2.6 and RCP8.5). More appropriate management and conservation policies should be taken to adapt to future climate change. These adjustments include modifications of the size, shape and use of the conservation area for this species.

Characteristics of dry-wet abrupt alternation events in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin and the relationship with ENSO

During recent decades, more frequent flood-drought alternations have been seen in China as a result of global climate change and intensive human activities, which have sig- nificant implications on water and food security. To better identify the characteristics of flood-drought alternations, we proposed a modified dry-wet abrupt alternation index （DWAAI） and applied the new method in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin （YRB-ML） to analyze the long-term spatio-temporal characteristics of dry-wet abrupt alterna- tion （DWAA） events based on the daily precipitation observations at 75 rainfall stations in summer from 1960 to 2015. We found that the DWAA events have been spreading in the study area with higher frequency and intensity since 1960. In particular, the DWAA events mainly occurred in May and June in the northwest of the YRB-ML, including Hanjiang River Basin, the middle reaches of the YRB, north of Dongting Lake and northwest of Poyang Lake. In addition, we also analyzed the impact of El Nifio Southern Oscillation （ENSO） on DWAA events in the YRB-ML. The results showed that around 41.04% of DWAA events occurred during the declining stages of La Nifia or within the subsequent 8 months after La Nina, which implies that La Nina events could be predictive signals of DWAA events. Besides, significant negative correlations have been found between the modified DWAAI values of all the rainfall stations and the sea surface temperature anomalies in the Nino3.4 region within the 6 months prior to the DWAA events, particularly for the Poyang Lake watershed and the middle reaches of the YRB. This study has significant implications on the flood and drought control and water resources management in the YRB-ML under the challenge of future climate change.

Changes in production potentials of rapeseed in the Yangtze River Basin of China under climate change:A multi-model ensemble approach

Rapeseed is one of the major oil crops in China and it is very sensitive to climate change.The Yangtze River Basin is the main rapeseed production area in China.Therefore,a better understanding of the impact of climate change on rapeseed production in the basin is of both scientific and practical importance to Chinese oil industry and food security.In this study,based on climate data from 5 General Circulation Models(GCMs) with 4 representative concentration pathways(RCPs) in 2011–2040(2020 s),2041–2070(2050 s) and 2071–2100(2080 s),we assessed the changes in rapeseed production potential between the baseline climatology of 1981–2010 and the future climatology of the 2020 s,2050 s,and 2080 s,respectively.The key modelling tool – the AEZ model – was updated and validated based on the observation records of 10 representative sites in the basin.Our simulations revealed that:(1) the uncertainty of the impact of climate change on rapeseed production increases with time;(2) in the middle of this century(2050 s),total rapeseed production would increase significantly;(3) the average production potential increase in the 2050 s for the upper,middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin is 0.939,1.639 and 0.339 million tons respectively;(4) areas showing most significant increases in production include southern Shaanxi,central and eastern Hubei,northern Hunan,central Anhui and eastern Jiangsu.

A Brief Introduction to a Major Project——The Physical-Chemical Processes in the Lower Atmosphere and Their Interaction with the Ecological System over the Yangtze Delta

With rapid industrialization and agricultural modernization in the past two decades, the Yangtze Delta Region in China has been one of the regions in the world most influenced by human activity. How has the economic development impacted on ecosystem, environment, agriculture and regional climate in this region ？ What are the mechanisms of the interactive processes and feedbacks？ What will be the future changes under different development scenarlos？ These are questions of critical importance to sustain the rate of social and economic development. A Major Project, The Physical-Chemical Processes in the Lower Atmosphere and Their Interaction with the Ecological System over Yangtze Delta, as one of the Ninth Five-Year Major Programs （1996-2000） funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC, just focused on those questions. Under the leadership of Prof. Zhou Xiuji, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences this project has made significant achievements and great progress in answering the above questions.