The Responses of Glaciers and Snow Cover to Climate Change in Xinjiang (Ⅱ) :Hazards Effects
Glacier and snow cover distributed widely in Xinjiang,when its melt water supply to the rivers often accompanied by glacial floods,snowmelt floods,glacial lake outburst floods,glacial debris,ice and snow avalanches,snowdrift and other snow disasters.There are greater threats on the local urban residence and the important defense lines because of these disasters.The extent and range of the ice and snow disasters impact subjected to the changes of glacier and snow cover.The glacier flood and glacial lake outburst floods occurred mainly in the Karakoram Mountains,Kunlun Mountains and the western of the southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains in the Tarim River Basin.The snowmelt floods occurred mainly in Altay area,Tacheng area and the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains in North Xinjiang.The glacier debris and the ice and snow avalanches disasters occurred mainly in the Pamirs Plateau,the western of the Tianshan Mountains,the Karakorum and the West Kunlun Mountains.The snowdrift occurred mainly in the middle and western of the Tianshan Mountains regions.With global warming,especially the beginning of the climate change from warm-dry to warm-wet in 1987 in Xinjiang,the glacier retreat intensified,the melt water increases,the glacier floods and debris flows increased with the increased of glacier melt water,and the snowmelt floods,ice and snow avalanches and snowdrift enhanced with the snow cover increased in winter and the air temperature rise,the alpine ice disintegration caused by ice avalanches with climate warming showed an increasing trend.The ice and snow disasters dominated by the glacier and snow floods in Xinjiang.The increasing trend of the frequency and intensity of glacier and snow floods under the influence of climate change have been observed in the last decade in the Xinjiang region.The water safety and disasters and other problems caused by glacial lake outburst floods and glacial floods in the Tarim Basin and the ice and snowmelt floods in spring in North Xinjiang have become increasingly prominent,and have great harm on the local lives,property and socio-economic development.With the glacier melt water increasing,some new disaster may be formed in the future.For the numerous glaciers,snow disaster induced by the climate change,there is a lack of adaptation on disaster monitoring,forecasting and early warning.So it should be keep an eye on the ice and snow disasters with the global climate change accelerating consistently,and to strengthen the study of the impact assessment and adaptation strategies of the disasters,and make the science and technology play a leading role in disaster reduction.
ice and snow disasterice and snow floodsclimate changeadaptation strategiesXinjiang
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