Climate Change and the Characteristics of the Air Temperature in the Upper Yellow River Region during Ice Season

The northern reach of Yellow River in Ningxia and Inner Mongolia has continental climate features. The river freezes every winter in this area. The average air temperature in winter has risen and the range of temperature change has become larger with global climate warming. Since 2000, the year-to-year differences of average temperature in ice season have been large, and the period of temperature variation is about two years. At the same time, extreme cases of temperature have become more frequent, consistent with global climate warming and extreme weather events frequency. This feature of air temperature in winter has impacts on the ice regime. It will lead to ice cover develop quickly during the freeze-up and the ice breaking slowly during breakup of river.