Hydrological Research in China

摘要

There is a broad range of climate in China, varying from arid to semiarid and semihumid to humid, which induces a variety of hydrological phenomena. Under the pressure of the increasing population, inrnnorthern China the scarcity of water resources is becoming a bottleneck for social and economic development and has led to the widespread degradation of natural ecosystems and the environment, while in south China flooding is a great threat whose potential risks are elevating steadily with the growth of the population as well as the economy. Accurate predictions of droughts and floods are extremely important to the social and economic safety of all these regions. China is on the way to changing from traditional water resources development to water resources management for sustainable development.