Coordination mechanism and regulation of the water-sediment-economic system in the Yellow River Basin | Xianyuan Bao

Background

The global environment is under unprecedented pressure due to the strong influence of human activities, and the Earth is entering a new era of the Anthropocene. Understanding the mechanisms of modern environmental change and predicting future trends are at the forefront of Earth system science research. This requires developing a holistic systems approach, coupling natural and human processes and exploring the mechanisms of human-earth system coupling in changing environments. The human-terrestrial system is a complex giant in which the natural geographical environment and human socio-economy interact and feedback. Revealing the evolution of its dynamic, resolving the coupling mechanism of processes, and clarifying the optimal regulation pathways can provide a solid theoretical foundation for regional sustainable development.

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) has been influenced by more than 3,000 years of historical development and modern high-intensity economic activities; the spatial linkages between human activities and the resources and environment, and the region’s upper, middle, and lower reaches, are still changing. The river basin is ideal for studying human-water systems in environmental change. Therefore, it is informative to elucidate the mechanism of socio-hydrological system coupling in the YRB, providing fundamental inspiration for water sustainable management worldwide, and promoting the development of earth system science in China through integrated research in the basin.