干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Using data from 74 meteorological stations in the arid region of northwest China (ANC) obtained from 1960-2010, this study explores spatial and temporal variations in temperature and precipitation and its relations with latitude, longitude, elevation and atmospheric circulations. The results show that, in the past 50 years, the temperature and precipitation in the ANC show significant increasing trends (P < 0.01) with rates of 0.343 degrees C/10a and 6.07mm/10a, respectively, higher than the average in globally. The increasing rate in winter temperature is the fastest with 0.486 degrees C/10a while the lowest is in spring with 0.268 degrees C/10a. However, the highest increasing rate of precipitation is 2.51mm/10a in summer while the lowest in winter is 1.16mm/10a. There are slow rises in temperature and precipitation in the 1970s, fast increases in the 1980s, and even faster increases in the 1990s. The temperature and precipitation have been continuously increasing during the period 2000-2010, but the increasing rates are less than the 1990s. Regionally, the highest increasing rates of temperature and precipitation occur in northern Xinjiang while the lowest rates of temperature and precipitation appear in southern Xinjiang and Gansu corridor, respectively.