The Tibetan Plateau(TP)is the headwater of the Yangtze,Yellow,and the transboundary Yarlung Zangbo,Lancang,and Nujiang Rivers,providing essential and pristine freshwater to around 1.6 billion people in Southeast and S...The Tibetan Plateau(TP)is the headwater of the Yangtze,Yellow,and the transboundary Yarlung Zangbo,Lancang,and Nujiang Rivers,providing essential and pristine freshwater to around 1.6 billion people in Southeast and South Asia.However,the temperature rise TP has experienced is almost three times that of the global warming rate.The rising temperature has resulted in glacier retreat,snow cover reduction,permafrost layer thawing,and so forth.Here we show,based on the longest observed streamflow data available for the region so far,that changing climatic conditions in the TP already had significant impacts on the streamflow in the headwater basins in the area.Our analysis indicated that the annual average temperature in the headwater basins of these five major rivers has been rising on a trend averaging 0.38℃-decade^(-1) since 1998,almost triple the rate before 1998,and the change of streamflow has been predominantly impacted by precipitation in these headwater basins.As a result,streamflow in the Yangtze,Yarlung Zangbo,Lancang,and Nujiang River headwater areas is on a decreasing trend with a reduction of flow ranging from 3.0-10^(9)-5.9-10^(9) m^(3)·decade^(-1)(-9.12%to-16.89%per decade)since 1998.The increased precipitation in the Tangnahai(TNH)and Lanzhou(LZ)Basins contributed to the increase of their streamflows at 8.04%and 14.29%per decade,respectively.Although the increased streamflow in the headwater basins of the Yellow River may ease some of the water resources concerns,the decreasing trend of streamflow in the headwater areas of the southeastern TP region since 1998 could lead to a water crisis in transboundary river basins for billions of people in Southeast and South Asia.展开更多
The Dongjiang River, one of the tributaries of the Pearl River, serves as the critical water source for Guangdong Province and the District of Hong Kong in China. In this study, the change trend and change points of f...The Dongjiang River, one of the tributaries of the Pearl River, serves as the critical water source for Guangdong Province and the District of Hong Kong in China. In this study, the change trend and change points of flow at three main gaging stations in the Dongjiang River were analyzed using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test and Pettitt-Mann-Whitney change-point statistics. Flow regime changes in the Dongjiang River were quantified by using both the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration （IHA） parameters and eco-statistics, such as ecosurplus and eeodeficit. It was found that the change trend for annual median flow in the Dongjiang River increased over the past 60years, with the major change occurring sometime between 1970 and 1974. IHA analyses showed that the magnitude of monthly flow decreased during the flood period, but increased greatly during the dry period. The median date of the one-day minimum flow moved ahead, and the duration of low pulse for the Dongjiang River was reduced significantly because of reservoir construction and operations. The IHA-based Dundee Hydrological Regime Alteration Method analysis indicated that all three stations have experienced a moderate risk of impact since 1974. The eco-statistical analyses showed that the majority of the flows appeared to be ecosurplus at all three locations after 1974, while flows with less than 30%, or higher exceedance probability, had ecodeficit in the summer flood period due to heavy reservoir operations.展开更多
基金funded by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0203)the National Key Research and Development Programs of China (2021YFC3201100).
文摘The Tibetan Plateau(TP)is the headwater of the Yangtze,Yellow,and the transboundary Yarlung Zangbo,Lancang,and Nujiang Rivers,providing essential and pristine freshwater to around 1.6 billion people in Southeast and South Asia.However,the temperature rise TP has experienced is almost three times that of the global warming rate.The rising temperature has resulted in glacier retreat,snow cover reduction,permafrost layer thawing,and so forth.Here we show,based on the longest observed streamflow data available for the region so far,that changing climatic conditions in the TP already had significant impacts on the streamflow in the headwater basins in the area.Our analysis indicated that the annual average temperature in the headwater basins of these five major rivers has been rising on a trend averaging 0.38℃-decade^(-1) since 1998,almost triple the rate before 1998,and the change of streamflow has been predominantly impacted by precipitation in these headwater basins.As a result,streamflow in the Yangtze,Yarlung Zangbo,Lancang,and Nujiang River headwater areas is on a decreasing trend with a reduction of flow ranging from 3.0-10^(9)-5.9-10^(9) m^(3)·decade^(-1)(-9.12%to-16.89%per decade)since 1998.The increased precipitation in the Tangnahai(TNH)and Lanzhou(LZ)Basins contributed to the increase of their streamflows at 8.04%and 14.29%per decade,respectively.Although the increased streamflow in the headwater basins of the Yellow River may ease some of the water resources concerns,the decreasing trend of streamflow in the headwater areas of the southeastern TP region since 1998 could lead to a water crisis in transboundary river basins for billions of people in Southeast and South Asia.
基金Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to two anonymous referees for their constructive comments and useful suggestions that helped us improve our paper. We also want to thank Lisa Shepherd from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for editing. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant Nos. 51379223 and 51210013）, the Pearl-River- New-Star of Science and Technology supported by Guangzhou City （2011J2200051）, and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province （$2011010001549）.
文摘The Dongjiang River, one of the tributaries of the Pearl River, serves as the critical water source for Guangdong Province and the District of Hong Kong in China. In this study, the change trend and change points of flow at three main gaging stations in the Dongjiang River were analyzed using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test and Pettitt-Mann-Whitney change-point statistics. Flow regime changes in the Dongjiang River were quantified by using both the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration （IHA） parameters and eco-statistics, such as ecosurplus and eeodeficit. It was found that the change trend for annual median flow in the Dongjiang River increased over the past 60years, with the major change occurring sometime between 1970 and 1974. IHA analyses showed that the magnitude of monthly flow decreased during the flood period, but increased greatly during the dry period. The median date of the one-day minimum flow moved ahead, and the duration of low pulse for the Dongjiang River was reduced significantly because of reservoir construction and operations. The IHA-based Dundee Hydrological Regime Alteration Method analysis indicated that all three stations have experienced a moderate risk of impact since 1974. The eco-statistical analyses showed that the majority of the flows appeared to be ecosurplus at all three locations after 1974, while flows with less than 30%, or higher exceedance probability, had ecodeficit in the summer flood period due to heavy reservoir operations.
