Understanding the temporal variations of extreme floods that occur in response to climate change is essential to anticipate the trends in flood magnitude and frequency in the context of global warming. However, long-t...Understanding the temporal variations of extreme floods that occur in response to climate change is essential to anticipate the trends in flood magnitude and frequency in the context of global warming. However, long-term records of paleofloods in arid regions are scarce, thus preventing a thorough understanding of such events. In this study, a reconstruction of paleofloods over the past 300 years was conducted through an analysis of grain sizes from the sediments of Kanas Lake in the Altay Mountains of northwestern China. Results showed that grain parameters and frequency distributions can be used to infer possible abrupt environmental events within the lake sedimentary sequence, and two extreme flood events corresponding to ca. 1736–1765 AD and ca. 1890 AD were further identified based on canonical discriminant analysis(CDA) and coarse percentile versus median grain size(C-M) pattern analysis, both of which occurred during warmer and wetter climate conditions by referring to tree-ring records. These two flood events are also evidenced by lake sedimentary records in the Altay and Tianshan mountains. Furthermore, through a comparison with other records, the flood event from ca. 1736–1765 AD in the study region seems to have occurred in both the arid central Asia and the Alps in Europe, and thus may have been associated with changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO) index.展开更多
Climate induced disasters such as cloudburst triggered flash floods, debris-flow, mass movements and landslides are very common phenomenon in the Himalaya. There are many instances in the recent past when these catast...Climate induced disasters such as cloudburst triggered flash floods, debris-flow, mass movements and landslides are very common phenomenon in the Himalaya. There are many instances in the recent past when these catastrophes caused heavy losses to lives and tremendous damage to property. One of the important characteristics of the Himalaya during the monsoon season is heavy downpour （cloudburst） which is due to extreme weather condition. Further, the landscape is very fragile and the human settlements are located either along the perennial streams of big rivers or on the unstable slopes. These perennial streams and big rivers are highly violent during the monsoon and whenever, the water level of these streams rises, it causes heavy loss to property and lives through destruction of the human settlements located along these courses. During the recent past, extreme changes in the climatic conditions have been seen largely due to the anthropogenic activities, i.e., population growth and large-scale deforestation. It has not only affected the climatic conditions but also affected the daily life of the inhabitants. This article examines the extreme weather related disasters in the Himalaya and gives a description of two deadly cloudburst triggered flashfloods that occurred in the Kedarnath and Badrinath valleys, which left the entire landscape devastated. This was followed by devastation of the settlements, agricultural fields, and thousands of lives were wiped out during this catastrophe. Rainfall data were collected to know about the changes in the climatic conditions and their impacts on the disaster in this part of the Himalaya.展开更多
Fifty cases of regional yearly extreme precipitation events （RYEPEs） were identified over the Yangtze-Huaihe River Valley （YHRV） during 1979-2016 applying the statistical percentile method. There were five types o...Fifty cases of regional yearly extreme precipitation events （RYEPEs） were identified over the Yangtze-Huaihe River Valley （YHRV） during 1979-2016 applying the statistical percentile method. There were five types of RYEPEs, namely Yangtze Meiyu （YM-RYEPE）, Huaihe Meiyu （HM-RYEPE）, southwest-northeast-oriented Meiyu （SWNE-RYEPE） and typhoon I and II （TC-RYEPE） types of RYEPEs. Potential vorticity diagnosis showed that propagation trajectories of the RYEPEs along the Western Pacific Subtropical High and its steering flow were concentrated over the southern YHRV. As a result, the strongest and most frequently RYEPEs events, about 16-21 cases with average rainfall above 100 mm, occurred in the southern YHRV, particularly in the Nanjing metropolitan area. There have been 14 cases of flood-inducing RYEPEs since 1979, with the submerged area exceeding 120 km2 as simulated by the FloodArea hydraulic model, comprising six HM-RYEPEs, five YM- RYEPEs, two TC-RYEPEs, and one SWNE-RYEPE. The combination of evolving RYEPEs and rapid expansion of urban agglomeration is most likely to change the flood risk distribution over the Nanjing metropolitan area in the future. In the RCP6.0 （RCPS.5） scenario, the built-up area increases at a rate of about 10.41 km2 （10 yr）-t（24.67 km2 （10 yr）-1） from 2010 to 2100, and the area of high flood risk correspondingly increases from 3.86 km2（3.86 km2） to 9.00 kin2（13.51 km2）. Areas of high flood risk are mainly located at Chishan Lake in Jurong, Lukou International Airport in Nanjing, Dongshan in Jiangning District, Lishui District and other low-lying areas. The accurate simulation of flood scenarios can help reduce losses due to torrential flooding and improve early warnings, evacuation planning and risk analysis. More attention should be paid to the projected high flood risk because of the concentrated population, industrial zones and social wealth throughout the Nanjing metropolitan area.展开更多
基金Under the auspices of National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2017YFA0603400)National Science Foundation of China(No.41671200,U1603242)
文摘Understanding the temporal variations of extreme floods that occur in response to climate change is essential to anticipate the trends in flood magnitude and frequency in the context of global warming. However, long-term records of paleofloods in arid regions are scarce, thus preventing a thorough understanding of such events. In this study, a reconstruction of paleofloods over the past 300 years was conducted through an analysis of grain sizes from the sediments of Kanas Lake in the Altay Mountains of northwestern China. Results showed that grain parameters and frequency distributions can be used to infer possible abrupt environmental events within the lake sedimentary sequence, and two extreme flood events corresponding to ca. 1736–1765 AD and ca. 1890 AD were further identified based on canonical discriminant analysis(CDA) and coarse percentile versus median grain size(C-M) pattern analysis, both of which occurred during warmer and wetter climate conditions by referring to tree-ring records. These two flood events are also evidenced by lake sedimentary records in the Altay and Tianshan mountains. Furthermore, through a comparison with other records, the flood event from ca. 1736–1765 AD in the study region seems to have occurred in both the arid central Asia and the Alps in Europe, and thus may have been associated with changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO) index.
文摘Climate induced disasters such as cloudburst triggered flash floods, debris-flow, mass movements and landslides are very common phenomenon in the Himalaya. There are many instances in the recent past when these catastrophes caused heavy losses to lives and tremendous damage to property. One of the important characteristics of the Himalaya during the monsoon season is heavy downpour （cloudburst） which is due to extreme weather condition. Further, the landscape is very fragile and the human settlements are located either along the perennial streams of big rivers or on the unstable slopes. These perennial streams and big rivers are highly violent during the monsoon and whenever, the water level of these streams rises, it causes heavy loss to property and lives through destruction of the human settlements located along these courses. During the recent past, extreme changes in the climatic conditions have been seen largely due to the anthropogenic activities, i.e., population growth and large-scale deforestation. It has not only affected the climatic conditions but also affected the daily life of the inhabitants. This article examines the extreme weather related disasters in the Himalaya and gives a description of two deadly cloudburst triggered flashfloods that occurred in the Kedarnath and Badrinath valleys, which left the entire landscape devastated. This was followed by devastation of the settlements, agricultural fields, and thousands of lives were wiped out during this catastrophe. Rainfall data were collected to know about the changes in the climatic conditions and their impacts on the disaster in this part of the Himalaya.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41205063 & 41330529)the China Meteorological Administration Special Public Welfare Research Fund (Grant No. GYHY201506006)+1 种基金the Project of Development of Key Techniques in Meteorological Forecasting Operation (Grant No. CMAHX20160404)the Huaihe Basin Meteorological Research Foundation (Grant No. HRM201605)
文摘Fifty cases of regional yearly extreme precipitation events （RYEPEs） were identified over the Yangtze-Huaihe River Valley （YHRV） during 1979-2016 applying the statistical percentile method. There were five types of RYEPEs, namely Yangtze Meiyu （YM-RYEPE）, Huaihe Meiyu （HM-RYEPE）, southwest-northeast-oriented Meiyu （SWNE-RYEPE） and typhoon I and II （TC-RYEPE） types of RYEPEs. Potential vorticity diagnosis showed that propagation trajectories of the RYEPEs along the Western Pacific Subtropical High and its steering flow were concentrated over the southern YHRV. As a result, the strongest and most frequently RYEPEs events, about 16-21 cases with average rainfall above 100 mm, occurred in the southern YHRV, particularly in the Nanjing metropolitan area. There have been 14 cases of flood-inducing RYEPEs since 1979, with the submerged area exceeding 120 km2 as simulated by the FloodArea hydraulic model, comprising six HM-RYEPEs, five YM- RYEPEs, two TC-RYEPEs, and one SWNE-RYEPE. The combination of evolving RYEPEs and rapid expansion of urban agglomeration is most likely to change the flood risk distribution over the Nanjing metropolitan area in the future. In the RCP6.0 （RCPS.5） scenario, the built-up area increases at a rate of about 10.41 km2 （10 yr）-t（24.67 km2 （10 yr）-1） from 2010 to 2100, and the area of high flood risk correspondingly increases from 3.86 km2（3.86 km2） to 9.00 kin2（13.51 km2）. Areas of high flood risk are mainly located at Chishan Lake in Jurong, Lukou International Airport in Nanjing, Dongshan in Jiangning District, Lishui District and other low-lying areas. The accurate simulation of flood scenarios can help reduce losses due to torrential flooding and improve early warnings, evacuation planning and risk analysis. More attention should be paid to the projected high flood risk because of the concentrated population, industrial zones and social wealth throughout the Nanjing metropolitan area.
