410
18 Climatic Change and Water Resources
Combined with climate change, more uncertainties place pressure on water resources
development and management in China. Therefore, climate change’s impact on water
resources is still quite unpredictable. In order to determine the relationship between
climate change and water resources, China has conducted substantial research in the
past 40 years.
18.2 Activities
Since the 1970s, the relationship between climate change and water resources has
been of international interest. However, studies on water resources and climate
change started in China only in the 1980s. In 1988, with the support of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences and Natural Sciences Foundation of China, “Research
on Trends and Impacts of Climate and Sea-Level Change” was launched, which
consisted of one sub-project “Impacts of Global Warming and Climatic Change on
Water Resources in Northwest and North China.”
In the 1990s, and particularly in the late 1990s, research studies were expanded.
In 1990, Fu (1990) finished the first master’s thesis in China on climatic change
and water resources with the title of “Global Warming Effects on Regional Water
Resources” in the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1990, Fu (1990) published a
conceptual paper about the effects of global warming on water resources in Northern
China. Zhang (1993) examined possible precipitation changes in China. In 1994,
Deng (1994) finished the first doctoral thesis in China on climatic change and water
resources with the title of “Hydrological Response to Climatic Change (Double
Carbon Dioxide Concentration) in Tuo River.” In 1996, Shen (1996) finished a
doctoral thesis about the effects of global warming on the middle route of China’s
South-to-North Water Transfer Project. From 1991–1995, the sub-project “Impact
of Climatic Change on Water Resources and its Adaptive Measures” was established
under the key state scientific and technological project “Impact of Climatic Change
on National Economy and Social Development and its Adaptive Measures,” which
focused on response relationships between climate change and river basin hydrology
in typical river basins. This study could be regarded as the first national assessment
of climate change on water resources in China. From 1996–2000, the sub-project
“Assessment Model Research of Climatic Abnormal Impact on Water Resources
and Hydrological Cycle” was set up under the key state scientific and technological
project “The Short-term Climate Forecast System in China.”
After the 2000s, a substantial amount of research has been conducted in China. In
addition to assessments of future climate change and water resources scenarios, many
researchers studied historical climate change to identify past hydrological parameter
variations, including precipitation, evaporation, and runoff in different parts of China.
At the same time, with the improvement of modeling techniques, more and more
detailed regional and river basin assessments have been conducted to predict future
climate change scenarios. However, limited to the modeling techniques, such as
downscaling and upscaling or coupling between regional circulation models (RCM)
18 Climatic Change and Water Resources
Combined with climate change, more uncertainties place pressure on water resources
development and management in China. Therefore, climate change’s impact on water
resources is still quite unpredictable. In order to determine the relationship between
climate change and water resources, China has conducted substantial research in the
past 40 years.
18.2 Activities
Since the 1970s, the relationship between climate change and water resources has
been of international interest. However, studies on water resources and climate
change started in China only in the 1980s. In 1988, with the support of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences and Natural Sciences Foundation of China, “Research
on Trends and Impacts of Climate and Sea-Level Change” was launched, which
consisted of one sub-project “Impacts of Global Warming and Climatic Change on
Water Resources in Northwest and North China.”
In the 1990s, and particularly in the late 1990s, research studies were expanded.
In 1990, Fu (1990) finished the first master’s thesis in China on climatic change
and water resources with the title of “Global Warming Effects on Regional Water
Resources” in the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1990, Fu (1990) published a
conceptual paper about the effects of global warming on water resources in Northern
China. Zhang (1993) examined possible precipitation changes in China. In 1994,
Deng (1994) finished the first doctoral thesis in China on climatic change and water
resources with the title of “Hydrological Response to Climatic Change (Double
Carbon Dioxide Concentration) in Tuo River.” In 1996, Shen (1996) finished a
doctoral thesis about the effects of global warming on the middle route of China’s
South-to-North Water Transfer Project. From 1991–1995, the sub-project “Impact
of Climatic Change on Water Resources and its Adaptive Measures” was established
under the key state scientific and technological project “Impact of Climatic Change
on National Economy and Social Development and its Adaptive Measures,” which
focused on response relationships between climate change and river basin hydrology
in typical river basins. This study could be regarded as the first national assessment
of climate change on water resources in China. From 1996–2000, the sub-project
“Assessment Model Research of Climatic Abnormal Impact on Water Resources
and Hydrological Cycle” was set up under the key state scientific and technological
project “The Short-term Climate Forecast System in China.”
After the 2000s, a substantial amount of research has been conducted in China. In
addition to assessments of future climate change and water resources scenarios, many
researchers studied historical climate change to identify past hydrological parameter
variations, including precipitation, evaporation, and runoff in different parts of China.
At the same time, with the improvement of modeling techniques, more and more
detailed regional and river basin assessments have been conducted to predict future
climate change scenarios. However, limited to the modeling techniques, such as
downscaling and upscaling or coupling between regional circulation models (RCM)