Shrinkage history of Lake Qinghai and causes during the last 52 years

Abstract

Lake Qinghai is the largest saline inland lake in China, and plays an important role on semi-arid ecosystem in Lake Qinghai basin, however, the lake has shrunk significantly during the last century. This study investigates water level and area changes of Lake Qinghai. The lake level and area decreased at the average rate of 5.28 cm/a and 4.38 km <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> /a, respectively, between 1959 and 2010. However, the lake area and level have increased slightly since 2004. The trend of warming climate in recent decades maybe the main reasons for the lake shrinkage, and human activities have little effect on it.