CAJ | 학술논문

Based on the statistics of glacier area variation measured in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains since 1960, the response of glacier area variation to climate change is discussed systematically. As a result, the total area of the glaciers has been reduced by 11.5% in the past 50 years, which is a weighted percentage according to the glacier area variations of 10 drainage basins separated by the Glacier Inventory of China (GIC). The annual percentage of area changes (APAC) of glaciers in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains is 0.31% after the standardization of the study period. The APAC varies widely for different drainage basins, but the glaciers are in a state of rapid retreat, generally. According to the 14 meteorological sta-tions in the Chinese rianshan Mountains, both the temperature and precipitation display a marked increasing tendency from 1960 to 2009 at a rate of 0.34～C.(10a)<'-1> and 11 mm.(10a)<'-1>,respectively. The temperature in the dry seasons (from November to March) increases rapidly at a rate of 0.46℃.(10a)<'-1>, but the precipitation grows slowly at 2.3 mm.(10a)<'-1>. While the temperature in the wet seasons (from April to October) grows at a rate of 0.25℃.(10a)<'-1>, but the precipitation increases at 8.7 mm.(10a)<'-1>. The annual and seasonal climatic trends ac-celerate the retreat of glaciers.