Projects

Impacts of land-atmosphere interactions for enhanced semi-arid warming, diverse energy balance and soil moisture regimes.

Some of the reported challenges in this arid region are... [Source: Huang, J., et al. (2017), Dryland climate change: Recent progress and challenges, Rev. Geophys., 55, 719–778, doi:10.1002/2016RG000550]

• Drylands are home to 2.5 billion people (more than 38% of the world’s population)

• Globally, drylands occupy approximately 41% of terrestrial land surfaces

• Accounts for approximately 40% of the global net primary productivity

• The largest warming during the last 100 years was observed over drylands and accounted for more than half of the

• Continental warming.

• One of the most sensitive areas to climate change and human activities.

• Dryland climate change has evolved from an environmental issue -> complex sustainable development issue

• Increasing aridity accelerates desertification and regional warming, threating ecological safety and national security

• The feedbacks among the biological, hydrological and human systems over drylands are intricately complicated

• Large amounts of mineral dust particles are emitted from dryland regions worldwide

• Dusts in/from the drylands play a very important role in local energy balance through direct, and semidirect effects

More details and specific research topics are in discussion phase and will be reported soon ......