Integrated Assessments of Meteorological Hazards across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China

Abstract

Recent decades have witnessed accelerated climate changes across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and elevated socioeconomic exposure to meteorological hazards. The QTP is called the “the third pole”, exerting remarkable impact on environmental changes in its surrounding regions. While few reports are available for addressing multi-hazard risks over the QTP, we develop an integrated indicator system involving multiple meteorological hazards, i.e., droughts, rainstorms, snowstorms and hailstorms, investigating the spatiotemporal patterns of major hazards over the QTP. The hazard zones of droughts and rainstorms are identified in the southern Gangdise Mountains, the South Tibet Valley, the eastern Nyenchen-Tanglha Mountains, the Hengduan Mountains and West Sichuan Basin. Snowstorm hazard zones distribute in the Himalayas, the Bayan Har Mountains and the central Nyenchen-Tanglha Mountains, while hailstorm hazard zones cluster in central part of the QTP. Since the 21st century, intensified rainstorms are detectable in the densely populated cities of Xining and Lhasa and their adjacent areas, while amplified droughts are observed in grain production areas of the South Tibet Valley and the Hengduan Mountains. Snowstorm hazards show large interannual variations and an increase in pastoral areas, although the overall trend is declining slightly. The frequency of hailstorms gradually decreases in human settlements due to thermal and landscape effects. Mapping meteorological hazards regionalization could help to understand climate risks in the QTP, and provide scientific reference for human adaptation to climate changes in highly sensitive areas.

Snow Disaster Risk Assessment Based on Long-Term Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau Region in Xizang

“…Previous studies by other scholars have indicated that areas with a high comprehensive risk of snow disasters on the QTP are primarily concentrated in the central-eastern and southwestern parts of Xizang [23]. The central part of Shigatse, the southern part of Shannan, and the eastern part of Nagqu experience high snowfalls and snow depths [3]. Shigatse and Shannan are situated in the southern part of Xizang, while the area characterized by a high snowfall and snow depth in Nagqu is located in the central-eastern part of Xizang.…”

“…It is crucial in organizing timely emergency relief efforts for snow disasters and making informed decisions for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. In the QTP, snow disasters are a prevalent natural meteorological hazard during the winter and spring, occurring almost annually and most frequently between November and March of the following year [3]. Currently, no definitive solution is in place to completely eradicate the effects of snow disasters in the Xizang Autonomous Region (XAR).…”

High lamb natural mortality versus specialized culling at Bangga on the southern Tibetan Plateau 3000 BP

“…Catastrophic events such as thunderstorms and flooding occur frequently in the summer, and snowstorms present serious hazards in the winter (County, L. C. C. C. o. t. C., 2010, pp. 91–95; Sun et al, 2021).…”

Analysis of the Variability Characteristics and Applicability of SPEI in Mainland China from 1985 to 2018

“…The Thornthwaite method for calculating PET overestimates the effect of precipitation deficit on drought severity, thus causing the SPEI to deviate from the actual situation in the region [43]. The reason for the low reliability of SPEI in the TP region was that climate change studies in the TP region have been limited by the scarcity of observations, especially at the extremely sparse stations in the western part of the plateau [44]. The low spatial density of meteorological stations in TP region increased the uncertainty of SPEI calculations using data from this region.…”