Drought and institutional adaptation in the Great Plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1914–1939     

Gregory P. Marchildon  Suren Kulshreshtha  Elaine Wheaton  Dave Sauchyn 《Natural Hazards》2008,45(3):391-411

Agriculture in the southern Great Plains of Canada has been particularly vulnerable to prolonged episodes of drought. Using climate data and a precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration index, the extent of the region’s exposure to drought is examined. Between 1914 and 1917, the Dry Belt was particularly vulnerable to drought, whereas after 1928, a much larger region known as the Palliser Triangle covering most of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan was much more exposed to drought. These droughts provoked major institutional adaptation, in particular the establishment of the Special Areas Board by the Government of Alberta, and the creation of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration by the Government of Canada. Both organizations have proved to be relatively permanent public adaptations to the natural hazard of drought in the region. Moreover, these earlier experiences with prolonged drought as well as institution-building may be of value in helping the residents of the Palliser Triangle adapt to predicted climate changes in the future as well as anticipate some of the barriers to effective institutional adaptation.  相似文献   

A pronounced dry event recorded around 4.2 ka in brine sediments from the northern Red Sea     

Helge W. Arz  Frank Lamy  Jürgen Ptzold 《Quaternary Research》2006,66(3):432-441

Partly laminated sediments were sampled from the brine-filled, anoxic Shaban Deep basin in the northern Red Sea. At about 4200 cal yr BP more than two millennia of anoxic sedimentation is replaced by a sub-oxic facies strongly suggesting the episodic absence of the brine. At the same time stable oxygen isotopes from surface dwelling foraminifera show a sharp increase (within less than 100 yr) pointing to a strong positive salinity anomaly at the sea surface. This major evaporation event significantly enhanced the renewal of deep water and the subsequent ventilation of the small Shaban Deep basin. The timing and strength of the reconstructed environmental changes around 4200 cal yr BP suggest that this event is the regional expression of a major drought event, which is widely observed in the neighboring regions, and which strongly affected Middle East agricultural civilizations.  相似文献   

The changing role of hydrogeology in semi-arid southern and eastern Africa     

N. S. Robins  J. Davies  J. L. Farr  R. C. Calow 《Hydrogeology Journal》2006,14(8):1483-1492

Much of southern and eastern Africa is semi-arid and heavily groundwater dependent. Borehole drilling commenced over a hundred years ago with magnetic and electrical resistivity surveys for borehole siting being introduced from 1936. Formalised training of hydrogeologists led in the 1970s to an almost standard approach to hydrogeological investigation and a period of stability followed, during which some major investigations were carried out. A period of decentralisation and fragmentation has since taken place in many parts of southern and eastern Africa, and groundwater monitoring and management are inadequate in many countries. All but six of the 14 SADC (Southern African Development Community) member states reportedly have an adequate monitoring network in place. However, groundwater demand is increasing and hydrogeologists need to promote the use of appropriate methodologies as an essential part of tackling the severe issues now facing the water sector in the region.  相似文献   

西藏地区旱涝等级划分及时空分布特征   总被引：7，自引：3，他引：7  

普布卓玛  周顺武 《高原气象》2002,21(2):210-216

利用西藏22个站点1969-1998年逐日降水资料，采用d指数旱涝等级方法。按夏季（5-9月），初夏（5-6月），盛夏（7-8月）时段进行了旱涝等级划分。采用EOF分析方法对全区22个站点旱涝等级展开分解，得出西藏地区的旱涝时空分布特征，主要类型和周期，而且对西藏地区夏季（5-9月）的旱涝做了预测。  相似文献   

青藏高原对其东北侧干旱形成的数值试验   总被引：4，自引：5，他引：4  

王咏青  陈联寿  罗哲贤 《高原气象》2002,21(6):529-535

应用再分析资料，指出高原边界层内存在北高南低偶极子型涡旋对的独特气候现象。根据当雄站1998年5月31日至6月4日感热通量的连续观测资料，确定了高原热力作用的时变特征，分别用不同的理想高原初始涡度场加定常热源强迫和时变热源强迫代入正压准地转涡度模式，研究了高原东北侧干旱的形成。认为有三种过程在起着重要作用，它们是：基流对上游反气旋涡旋的平流输送、南侧气旋涡旋的能量频散以及高原热力强迫引起的频散生成高值系统的增强。  相似文献   

台风活动对副热带高压位置和强度的影响   总被引：9，自引：7，他引：9  

李春虎  黄福均  罗哲贤 《高原气象》2002,21(6):576-582

利用一个浅水模式，实施了6组时间积分为4－5个模式日的试验，研究了台风对副热带高压中心位置及强度的影响。结果表明：台风和副热带高压的相互作用可以使高压中心位置西移,强度增加。据此讨论了台风活动和西北地区东部干旱之间统计联系的可能机制。  相似文献   

Late Holocene climates of the Near East deduced from Dead Sea level variations and modern regional winter rainfall     

Yehouda Enzel  Revital Bookman  David Sharon  Haim Gvirtzman  Uri Dayan  Baruch Ziv  Mordechai Stein 《Quaternary Research》2003,60(3):263-273

The Dead Sea is a terminal lake of one of the largest hydrological systems in the Levant and may thus be viewed as a large rain gauge for the region. Variations of its level are indicative of the climate variations in the region. Here, we present the decadal- to centennial-resolution Holocene lake-level curve of the Dead Sea. Then we determine the regional hydroclimatology that affected level variations. To achieve this goal we compare modern natural lake-level variations and instrumental rainfall records and quantify the hydrology relative to lake-level rise, fall, or stability. To quantify that relationship under natural conditions, rainfall data pre-dating the artificial Dead Sea level drop since the 1960s are used. In this respect, Jerusalem station offers the longest uninterrupted pre-1960s rainfall record and Jerusalem rains serve as an adequate proxy for the Dead Sea headwaters rainfall. Principal component analysis indicates that temporal variations of annual precipitation in all stations in Israel north of the current 200 mm yr⁻¹ average isohyet during 1940–1990 are largely synchronous and in phase (70% of the total variance explained by PC1). This station also represents well northern Jordan and the area all the way to Beirut, Lebanon, especially during extreme drought and wet spells. We (a) determine the modern, and propose the past regional hydrology and Eastern Mediterranean (EM) climatology that affected the severity and length of droughts/wet spells associated with multiyear episodes of Dead Sea level falls/rises and (b) determine that EM cyclone tracks were different in average number and latitude in wet and dry years in Jerusalem. The mean composite sea level pressure and 500-mb height anomalies indicate that the potential causes for wet and dry episodes span the entire EM and are rooted in the larger-scale northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation. We also identified remarkably close association (within radiocarbon resolution) between climatic changes in the Levant, reflected by level changes, and culture shifts in this region.  相似文献   

福建省干旱概况及夏旱期间人工增雨条件分析   总被引：3，自引：1，他引：3  

夏丽花冯玲  曾光平 《应用气象学报》2003,14(Z1):143-150

对福建省干旱的成因和干旱的环流形势进行了探讨,着重分析了夏旱期间人工增雨作业的天气形势、云状、回波特征及云顶温度等条件,结果表明福建省干旱的形成与大型环流形势、地形、地貌及土壤植被条件有关;平均而言,闽东南沿海干旱多于内陆地区;西太平洋副热带高压是夏季致旱的主要天气系统;夏季,西风槽前型、台风外围影响型、副热带辐合带型是进行人工增雨作业的有利天气形势,Sc、Cb、Cu云都有一定的人工增雨作业条件,其中降水时长1～5 h,过程雨量1.0～5.0 mm的云是旱季作业比较适合的作业云.这些结果为开展人工增雨作业提供理论依据,达到解除或缓解干旱的目的.  相似文献   

提高气候预测准确率的有效途径     

张存杰 《干旱气象》2003,21(3):90-93

文中给出了目前我国干旱气候预测的水平和使用的主要方法。指出数值模式的预测方法不仅具有明确坚实的物理基础。而且具有客观、定量的优点。是气候预测方法的一个新的发展方向。20世纪90年代以来，高分辨率的区域气候模式的发展为区域气候的模拟和预测研究带来了新的希望。发展适合西北地区的高分辨率区域气候模式，是目前西北地区气候规律及其预测研究迫切需要解决的科学问题。  相似文献   

华北北部场源前兆观测资料分析(一)──场源前兆特征与机制     

王贵宣  张肇诚  郑大林  桂燮泰 《地震》1997,(4)

1976年唐山地震前，在距震源很远的地区内都观测到一些前兆趋势变化，如重力、重力位二次徽商W△、水氧、地电阻率、水位和油井出油量等变化。作者认为这些变化不是由震源体直接引起的，而是在区域应力场的作用下，在某些活动断层附近，浅层岩，尤其是含水砂岩层和含油层受挤压出现的一些与地震有关的异常现象。其特征是：（1）异常范围大，可能在距震源很远的地方发生，但就同一种方法的多个观测点来说却又是局部的，即只有其中部分测点才能观测到异常，不少测点观测不到异常。（2）异常发生的时间大致相同。有些异常有同步变化的特征，如同时上升或同时下降。（3）临震前多数异常有恢复的趋势。这些特征与引起异常的机理有关。作者还从理论上计算了这种趋势异常量级，重力变化100×10-6cm／s2左右，重力位二次微商变化（1～2）×10－9／s2，地电阻率变化2％～3％，Rn变化7．4～11．1Bq／L，这样的变化量在活动断层附近的一些台站可能观测到。作者还研究了干旱降雨对某些前兆的影响，其影响量级可以被一些方法观测到，因此在确定是否是地震异常时，必须注意利用综合分析的方法排除干旱降雨的影响，减少异常的多解性。  相似文献