Review of Advances in Hydrologic Science in China in the Last Decades: Impact Study of Climate Change and Human Activities

Abstract

Water is a precious resource and plays a critical role in socioeconomic development in many sectors. Since the completion of a nationwide assessment of water resources by China’s Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) in 1986, a number of research papers with national perspectives have appeared in Chinese journals and have become major references for a variety of issues related to water resources (Qian 1991). Responding to international scientific research programs such as International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Biosphere Aspects of the Hydrological Cycle (IGBPBAHC), World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment/GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment (GEWEX/GAME) (Xia and Tan 2002), and the social and economic development demands in China, a series of key projects on hydrologic research in supporting water resources management have been implemented particularly in the last 10 years in the 21st century, funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), MWR, and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). These projects were designed to address the role of hydrologic changes in flood and drought-hazard mitigation, water shortages, and ecosystem degradation with respect to the impacts of climate change and human activities in China (Qian and Zhang 2001; Xia and Chen 2001; Liu and Zheng 2002; Zhang and Wang 2007; Wang et al. 2002). In this paper, the writers strive to summarize recent advances of hydrologic impact research in response to climate change and human activities in China. The primary discussion is focused on three key points, as follows: (1) the spatiotemporal changes of various components for water cycle processes, including precipitation, runoff, and evapotranspiration investigations, are summarized and addressed; (2) recent efforts in hydrologic studies in China associated with lakes, glaciers, and snow are reviewed; and (3) challenges and opportunities in hydrologic science in China are discussed as highlights.