Climate Change Research ›› 2012, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (2): 110-118.

Analysis on Himalayan Climate Change in 1951-2010

• Received:2011-09-19 Revised:2011-11-16 Online:2012-03-30 Published:2012-03-30

Abstract: Using the temperature and precipitation data of 1951-2010 at 13 representative weather observation stations on the southern and northern slopes of the Himalayas, climate trends, decadal variation characteristics and abrupt changes were analyzed. Remarkable increasing trends of annual temperatures were detected and the linear warming trend over 1961-2010 was 0.38℃/10a. The decadal temperature increasing rate accelerated from the 1970s to 1990s, but slowed down in the 2000s. A noteworthy abrupt climatic warming appeared in the central Himalayas around 2000, and an abrupt warming change also occurred in the western and eastern sections of the Himalayas but in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively. The precipitation exhibited a slight decline trend in the western section of the Himalayas but a weak rise trend in the central and eastern sections in 1971-2010, and on the whole, there was no obvious trend in precipitation. The decadal precipitation increased a little bit from the 1970s to 1990s but decreased slightly over the 2000s. The decadal precipitation showed an abrupt decline change mainly in western Himalayas, and an abrupt rise change mainly in the central and eastern sections although those abrupt changes occurred in different decades.