Changes of the physical and human geographical environment in China during the past 2000 years
GE Quansheng,, ZHU HuiyiKey Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Abstract Understanding the changes of physical and human geographical environment during the past 2000 years in China is beneficial to establish the position, direction, focus areas, and initiatives of "Beautiful China" construction. In this paper, we integrated the results published in research papers, summarized the general characteristics of geographical environment changes in the history, and explored the implications of these changes on the construction of ecological civilization. The results implied that historical changes in China's land surface had been mainly manifested by the multi-scale quasi-periodic fluctuations and regional differentiation of climate, the fragmentation of the Loess Plateau, the expansion of desertified land in the northern regions, the gradual migration of delta coasts, the large scale shrinkage of lake systems especially in the Yellow River and the Yangtze River basins, and the decline in area of forests and the grasslands of northern China. Meanwhile, the economic and social changes were prominently reflected in the population growth and pattern changes, the migration of economic center to the southeast, the expansion of cultivated land to the periphery, and the transportation network evolution. From the above results, we could achieve the following enlightenments: in the future, the deserts in the northern region would still exist, and the lake systems in the middle and lower reaches of both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River were difficult to restore. The grain transportation from the south to the north disappeared in the history. But there was still much room for improvement in the coverage rate of forests, the transportation network could still achieve a higher level, and at the same time, we must mitigate the risk from climate change in the coastal cities. Keywords:China;physical geographical environment;socio-economic environment;historical change;during the past 2000 years
PDF (1859KB)元数据多维度评价相关文章导出EndNote|Ris|Bibtex收藏本文 本文引用格式 葛全胜, 朱会义. 两千年来中国自然与人文地理环境变迁及启示. 地理学报[J], 2021, 76(1): 3-14 doi:10.11821/dlxb202101001 GE Quansheng, ZHU Huiyi. Changes of the physical and human geographical environment in China during the past 2000 years. Acta Geographica Sinice[J], 2021, 76(1): 3-14 doi:10.11821/dlxb202101001
1.3.2 长江水系长期泥沙沉积导致河曲发育、江心洲增加、中下游湖泊大面积萎缩,云梦泽消失 穿越高山峡谷的长江上游河道相对稳定,宜昌以下中下游河段变化较大[8],突出表现在河曲发育、江心洲增加、下游湖泊萎缩3个方面。秦汉时期,宜昌以下下荆江河段始出现分流水道;至魏晋南北朝至唐宋时,形成统一河床;此后,河床抬高,洪水时有泛滥;至明末清初时,自由河曲已高度发育,形成今天葫芦形的九曲回肠[24]。秦汉以前,下荆江以下河段鲜有江心洲,至20世纪中期已有大小江心洲120余个。云梦泽秦时曾远及汉水以北,面积最大时达4万km2,战国时期已减缩到荆江三角洲和城陵矶至武汉长江西侧泛滥平原之间,至唐宋时已被众多湖沼代替,明清时期一度在湖沼上发育出洪湖,方圆二百余里,但至20世纪末,又退化成200多个浅小湖泊。类似的情形也发生在洞庭湖等湖泊[24]。洞庭湖在秦汉时期面积超过6000 km2,北魏时期面积一度下降,唐宋时期再度扩张,号称“八百里洞庭”,明清时期湖面继续扩展,至清道光年间进入全盛时期,“横亘八九百里”,此后持续下降,至1937年下降到4700 km2,到20世纪90年代下降至2500 km2 [21]。鄱阳湖发育于新彭蠡泽之上,宋初始称为鄱阳湖,该湖形成于西汉后期,兴盛于唐宋时期,元明时期仍向西南扩展,至清初达到鼎盛时期,清代以后逐渐萎缩,1954年洪水湖面5050 km2,1976年缩小至3841 km2 [21]。太湖形成于先秦以前,原由淞江、娄江、东江等三江分泄入海;唐宋以后三江逐渐淤塞,湖泊水面扩大;北宋以来,吴淞江、浏河、苏州河、黄浦江相继成了太湖入海的主要泄水道,洪水季节常因排水不畅,洪水漫溢,形成洪涝灾害,1949年建国以来湖泊面积大幅缩小,下降到2427 km2 [21]。水系变化导致长江流域水灾频率加大,据统计,唐代平均18年1次,明清平均4年左右1次,20世纪平均2年1次[26]。
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