Abstract:

Farmers from the unit villages situated at different altitudes in the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau as the investigation objects, the investigation of the farmers’ perception and coping strategies for the climate change and meteorological disasters was carried out by using perception indensity formula and expert evaluating method. The results showed that: (1) In 1961-2013, climate change of the middle reach of the Huangshui River tends to be warm and dry, 84% of the farmers believe that climate is warming, which has brought a serious impact on their daily life; (2) There are obvious differences in the perception of meteorological disasters among the farmers from three geographical units at different altitudes, farmers from low-mountain area have the strongest perception of dust, from higher mountain area have the strongest perception of insect pests, and those from the highest mountain area have the strongest perception of rainy days; (3) The farmers from different altitudes have different choices on their adaption strategies, from low-mountain area adopt combination adaption strategies of production, life and insurance, those from higher mountain area mainly adopt the combination adaption strategies of production and life, while those from the highest mountain area mainly adopt single productive adaption strategy to cope with the climate change.

Key words: Middle reach of the Huangshui River, Climate change, Perception, Adaptation strategies