Climate change and causes in the Yuanmou dry-hot valley of Yunnan, China

This paper analyses climate change in the Yuanmou dry-hot valley area since the 1950s and compares it with that on the Yunnan plateau (Chuxiong City, Wuding County and Dongchuan City). Annual average temperature, the coldest month average temperature, annual evaporation, annual sunshine hours and annual mean wind speed, all have declined, while the annual rainfall and the average relative humidity have slightly increased. The causes of climate change are chiefly the result of large-scale irrigation in the cultivated land and the restoration of vegetation, and also related to local environmental change. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.