FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 30, 2007                                

Grand Opening for the Center for Global Change and Water Cycle at Hohai University

The inauguration ceremony for the Center for Global Change and Water Cycle was held on November 11, 2007 at Hohai University in Nanjing, China. The ceremony was presided over by “Changjiang Scholar” Prof. Zhongbo Yu, director of the new center. A speech by Prof. Yixin Yan, vice-chancellor of Hohai University, warmly welcomed more than 20 scholars from prestigious research institutes, universities and international organizations, including CAS academicians Prof. Changming Liu, Prof. Jiyang Wang, and Prof. Yuqun Xue, CAE academician Prof. Yaoru Lu, and Dr. John Warwick, director of the Division of Hydrologic Sciences at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, U.S.A. With support from the State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering at Hohai University, as well as the Desert Research Institute, the new center will investigate the effects of climate change, land use-land cover change (LUCC) and desertification on the water cycle. It is the first research organization in China devoted to these topics.

Global change, the combination of climate change and LUCC, is driven by both natural factors and human activities. Many new research programs on global change have emerged since the 1980s. The effects of climate change and human activity on the water cycle are among the most crucial issues. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), average global temperatures will increase by about 1.1-6.4°C in this century. Global warming augments the evaporation process, both on land and at sea, which increases precipitation and accelerates the global water cycle. Consequent changes in distribution of temperature and precipitation result in abnormal regional water balances, affecting the amount of river flow and the frequency of floods. Heavier and more frequent flooding is now occurring in many regions of the world, while others are experiencing longer or more severe drought.

Global change research in China provides a basis for international cooperation between governments and organizations. The strengthening of global environmental treaties and the quantification of uncertainties of climate change science have been incorporated as key issues in China’s long-term science and technology plans, while the response of large-scale water cycles and regional water resources to global change has become a scientific issue absolutely essential to national policies. The establishment of the new center will aid ongoing efforts to understand changing process and spatial-temporal distribution of future water resources in some representative Chinese regions (i.e., Taihu Lake basin, Huaihe River basin, northwestern arid regions and the Tibetan Plateau). It will also provide scientific support for future structural adjustment and ecologically sound development of the nation’s industrial and agricultural sectors.

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