Based on the daily data from 60 meteorological stations for the period of 1961-2010, spatial and temporal trends of actual evapotranspiration (E) were analyzed by applying the Advection-Aridity model in the Songhua River basin. The research results show that annual E in the Songhua River basin shows a significant upward trend at a rate of about 4.9 mm per decade. More significant upward trend can be detected in spring and winter. While the summer and autumn E show obvious inter-decadal fluctuation. Annual E has similar spatial distribution pattern to those of spring, summer and autumn, with high values located in the southern part and relatively low values in the west part. In 1961-2010, the annual and seasonal air temperatures, especially the minimum air temperature of the Songhua River basin, have significant upward trends, but the sunshine duration and wind speed have significant downward trends. Correlation analysis results show that, the spatial-temporal distribution of the E is derived from the comprehensive impact of the main meteorological factors. In general, the increase of the average/minimum air temperature can give explanations for the rising of annual and seasonal E, especially in spring and winter. In summer and autumn, the E has no significant trend in 1961-2010, because the main meteorological factors such as daily temperature range, actual vapor pressure, wind speed and precipitation all have no obvious trend.

In order to reveal the essential feature of radiation in extreme arid region of Northwest China, the characteristics of global radiation, direct radiation and diffuse radiation were analyzed by using solar irradiance observation data and meteorological data from January, 2007 to December, 2011. The results show that the annual total of global radiation, diffuse radiation and direct radiation were 6619.0, 3507.8, 2203.5 MJ·m^-2, respectively. The daily peak of global radiation is 2.4 times of diffuse radiation and 1.5 times of direct radiation in the clear day. In the sand storm day, the value of diffuse radiation increases to be consistent with the global radiation, and direct radiation attenuation is obvious. Diffuse radiation increases with the total cloud amount rise when the solar zenith angle is higher than 20°, and it increases significantly in autumn and winter.

Based on GIMMS (Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies) data from 1982 to 2006, we calculated the vegetation phenological data in arid zone of Central Asia and Xinjiang, China using threshold method with the Timesat software. The Mann-Kendall trend analysis and Theil Sen slope tools were used to assess the spatial-temporal change. Combined with land cover data and digital elevation model, varieties of phenological metrics were also analyzed for different vegetation cover types and different elevation zones. According to our results, no significant phenological change was detected for the whole study area, but obvious change was found in some local areas. The area where the start of growth season (SOS) had advanced was also found to have a significant extended length of growth season (LOS). Different vegetation cover types showed remarkably different patterns in phonological changes. The end of growth season (EOS) of Deciduous Broadleaf Forest delayed significantly. Except for the Open Shrub, Closed Shrub and Bare Ground, most vegetation cover types showed an extended LOS. The phenology in different elevation varied obviously. Analyses further showed that the water and heat conditions in the 2000-3000 m elevation zone were improved, which may result in the most advanced SOS, delayed EOS and prolonged LOS in this zone.

Based on the mountain hazards events in the Tibetan Plateau during the period of 1930-2010, the impacts of global warming on mountain hazards in alpine area were analyzed. Under the circumstance of global warming, glacial lake outburst disaster and glacial debris tended to be more active. Disaster chain was apparent and showed a tendency of spatial and temporal extension, associated with the increasing occurrences of catastrophe. It showed a climatic characteristics of rain and heat occurring in the same period, which constituted a favorable combination for the formation of glacial debris in the southeast region of Tibet. Building distribution in debris-flow risky areas of Sangdeng Gully and Ganong Gully with an area of 0.014 km² in 1988 extended to 1.004 km² in 2012, economic activity overlapped with the high risk areas coupled with the increasing disaster risk due to climate change, and thus disaster risk in mountain regions significantly increased. The above results provide evidence about the impact of climate change on mountain hazards in Tibetan Plateau and preliminarily describe characteristics of the impact, which will help to reduce mountain hazards and further understand the corresponding impact mechanism.

Based on the rule of cropping system, potential sown area is used to analyze the response of crop sown area to climate change, and other combined factors as well. Some results are concluded as follows. Actual sown area in China increases slowly, with obvious regional disparities, expanding in Southwest China, Central China, Northeast China and Xinjiang, while reducing in other regions. The maximum of actual sown area is in Central China, and the minimum is in Xinjiang. According to≥10℃ accumulated temperature, the average of non-cultivated areas in China in the period 1986-2009 decreased by almost 34.33% compared with the period 1961-1985; single cropping area cut a little bit, while still remained the largest share of about 50%; double cropping area increased the most, and the area of triple cropping followed. The combination of ≥10℃ with ≥0℃accumulated temperatures is available to show a slow increase in China potential sown area, with high similarity to actual sown area. On the contrary, other factors as a whole restrain the expansion of sown area slowly.

The impacts of climate variability and human activities on runoff change in the upper Hanjing River basin and Luanhe River basin, two typical basins of the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, were investigated with 8 approaches. These are the sensitivity-based approaches (including six Budyko framework based models), precipitation-runoff double mass curves and comparative method of the slope changing ratio of cumulative quantity. The results show that, compared with the baseline period, the average annual runoff in the variation period I/II decreased by 29.5% / 19.1% and 49.8% / 70.0% for the upper Hanjing River basin and Luanhe River basin, respectively. For the upper Hanjiang River basin, climate variability was the main influence factor of runoff reduction in 1991-1999 but human activities was the main influence factor for the period of 2000-2008. The contribution rates of climate variability on runoff reduction became weaker while the contribution rates of human activities on runoff reduction became stronger during the variation period. For Luanhe River basin, human activities was the main influence factor of runoff reduction for the period of 1980-2010, and the contribution rates on runoff reduction by climate variability and human activities almost remained unchanged during the variation period.

The Mann-Kendall test has been applied to detect the trends and abrupt changes of the precipitation and runoff for the Fujiang River basin. The contribution of precipitation to the runoff change has been estimated with the rate of change in the slope of cumulative amount. The results indicate that the annual precipitation and runoff have decreased significantly during the period of 1951-2012, especially after the 1990s, and the abrupt changes of the annual precipitation and runoff both occurred in 1968. The linear relationship between the annual runoff and precipitation is good, but poor in winter. The decrease of runoff could be attributed to precipitation change (71.4%) and human activities (28.6%).

International decisions and negotiation progress relevant to climate change adaptation since the adoption of decision Bali Action Plan (COP13) were reviewed. The role of these decisions on the enhancement of implementation of adaptation actions and constrains to implementation of adaptation actions in developing countries were analyzed. The interests and suggestions proposed by Parties on elements to be included in “2015 climate change agreements” were summarized. It was concluded that progress has been made on adaptation negotiations since the adoption of Bali Action Plan, and Adaptation Committee, national adaptation planning process, and Loss and Damage Mechanism have been established; Finance, technology research and development, diffusion and deployment, policies, national institutional arrangements and capacity, information and knowledge are major barriers for developing countries to adapt to climate change; For future adaptation negotiations, finance, technology and capacity building support will still be a focus. With regard to the proposals made by African group (global goal of adaptation) and Alliance of Small Island States (loss and damage caused by adverse effects of climate change), it is needed for further research on developing assessment methodologies and tools and exploring the attribution of climate variability and human activity induced climate change impacts. Finally, further enhancing south-south adaptation cooperation is recommended.

Controlling greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change have become a focus of the international attention. As a country with huge emissions of greenhouse gases, China is facing pressures from abroad. For the next decades, if China follows the evolution route of developed countries, China’s hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) productions, consumptions and emissions will grow rapidly. HFCs emissions in China could contribute a great potential reduction (avoided emissions) if China adopts substitutes with low global warming potentials and implements emission control measures. It is considerably beneficial to include controlling HFCs emissions into China’s overall strategy of greenhouse gas emission control. As for controlling HFCs emissions, China faces several opportunities, such as having established relatively complete compliance mechanism, and promoting energy conservation and technological innovation; while China also faces several challenges, such as fast growth of HFCs consumptions and emissions, and limitations of alternative technologies for HFCs.