Drought Under Global Warming and Climate Change: An Empirical Study of the Loess Plateau

Yang Li, Zhixiang Xie, Yaochen Qin, Haoming Xia, Zhicheng Zheng, Lijun Zhang, Ziwu Pan and Zhenzhen Liu
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Yang Li: College of Environment and Planning, Henan University / Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Kaifeng 475004, China
Zhixiang Xie: College of Environment and Planning, Henan University / Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Kaifeng 475004, China
Yaochen Qin: College of Environment and Planning, Henan University / Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Kaifeng 475004, China
Haoming Xia: College of Environment and Planning, Henan University / Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Kaifeng 475004, China
Zhicheng Zheng: College of Environment and Planning, Henan University / Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Kaifeng 475004, China
Lijun Zhang: College of Environment and Planning, Henan University / Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Kaifeng 475004, China
Ziwu Pan: College of Environment and Planning, Henan University / Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Kaifeng 475004, China
Zhenzhen Liu: College of Environment and Planning, Henan University / Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Kaifeng 475004, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: The Loess Plateau is located at the transition zone between agriculture and livestock farming; its spatial and temporal pattern of drought is the key for an appropriate adaptation to climate change. This study investigated monthly meteorological observation data of 79 meteorological stations from 1955 to 2014 to calculate the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index at different time scales. The spatial and temporal characteristics and persistence of drought were analyzed. The results showed the following: (i) The drought trend is most apparent in spring (0.096/10a) and lower in summer (0.036/10a) and autumn (0.009/10a). (ii) A higher drought level indicates a lower frequency of droughts occurrence and vice versa. The frequency of light drought was highest (11.36%), while that of extreme drought was lowest (0.12%). (iii) The mean drought intensity was highest in summer, followed by spring, autumn, and winter. The drought intensity was mainly light, showing a pattern of severe drought in the northwest and light drought in the southeast. (iv) The Loess Plateau will continue a trend of drought in the future, but the season of the continuous intensity will differ. Droughts in spring and summer are highly persistent, autumn drought trends continue but may slow, and winter droughts become random events.

Keywords: drought; standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index; Mann-Kendall; Hurst index; persistence; the Loess Plateau (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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