Arid Zone Research ›› 2024, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (10): 1627-1638.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2024.10.02

• Weather and Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Climate characteristics and variation in the Qilian Mountains from 1961 to 2022

YANG Fei(), ZHANG Wentao, ZHANG Feimin, WANG Chenghai()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Arid Climate Resource and Environment of Gansu Province, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China
  • Received:2024-02-06 Revised:2024-06-18 Online:2024-10-15 Published:2024-10-14
  • Contact: WANG Chenghai E-mail:yangf21@lzu.edu.cn;wch@lzu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Global warming has resulted in the phenomenon of warming and wetting in northwest China. The Qilian Mountains is located in the arid region of northwest China, which spans the arid, semi-arid, and extremely arid climate zones from east to west. The climate has also obviously changed, which exerts a significant effect on the regional ecology and hydrological process. Based on the data of air temperature and precipitation in the Qilian Mountains and its surrounding areas from 1961 to 2022, this study analyzed the temporal and spatial variations of air temperature and precipitation in the Qilian Mountains and the relationship between precipitation and changes in precipitation with altitude. Results demonstrated a significant increase in temperature and precipitation in the Qilian Mountains in the past 60 years. The variation in temperature was the largest in the middle part of the Qilian Mountains, and the variation in precipitation was the largest in the east part of the Qilian Mountains, whereas the variation in precipitation was the smallest in the western part. The interannual variation in precipitation was the largest in August. The tendency rate of temperature increase in the Qilian Mountain area was approximately 0.36 ℃·(10a)-1, which was higher than the national level of 0.21 ℃·(10a)-1. The maximum temperature increase rate was observed in winter [0.45 ℃·(10a)-1], particularly in the western region where it was 0.5 ℃·(10a)-1. The maximum increase rate of precipitation was found in the middle region [11.86 mm·(10a)-1]. Precipitation in the Qilian Mountains and surrounding areas increased with altitude, showing two peaks. One peak was located at an altitude of 2600-2800 m, and the other was located at an altitude of 3600-3800 m. However, the relationship between precipitation and altitude was generally unimodal for each mountain. Among the mountains, the windward slope of Daban Mountain had the largest precipitation, and Qinghai Nanshan Mountain had the smallest precipitation. The climate in the Qilian Mountains exhibited warming and humidification. The annual mean minimum temperature increased faster than the maximum temperature, and the minimum temperature increased most obviously in the western part of the Qilian Mountains. The rapid increase in the minimum temperature will exert an impact on the glaciers and ecosystems of the Qilian Mountains.

Key words: air temperature, precipitation, climate change, spatio-temporal characteristics, change trend, Qilian Mountains