Socio-economic Impacts on Flooding: A 4000-Year History of the Yellow River, China

We analyze 4000-year flood history of the lower Yellow River and the history of agricultural development in the middle river by investigating historical writings and quantitative time series data of environmental changes in the river basin. Flood dynamics are characterized by positive feedback loops...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ambio 2012-11, Vol.41 (7), p.682-698
Main Authors: Chen, Yunzhen, Syvitski, James P. M, Gao, Shu, Overeem, Irina, Kettner, Albert J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
17th century
4th century
Agricultural development
Agricultural history
Agricultural production
Atmospheric Sciences
Avulsions
China
Cities
coevolution
Community supported agriculture
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Economic factors
Economic impact
Economics
Environment
Environmental changes
Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology
Environmental Management
Farming
Feedback
Flood frequency
Flood irrigation
Floods
Fluvial channels
Fluvial erosion
History
Levees
Levees & battures
Loess
Natural channels
new technology
Physical Geography
plows
Precipitation
REVIEW PAPER
River basins
Rivers
Sediment transport
Sedimentation & deposition
Sediments
society
Socioeconomic Factors
Socioeconomics
Soil erosion
Time series
time series analysis
watersheds
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We analyze 4000-year flood history of the lower Yellow River and the history of agricultural development in the middle river by investigating historical writings and quantitative time series data of environmental changes in the river basin. Flood dynamics are characterized by positive feedback loops, critical thresholds of natural processes, and abrupt transitions caused by socio-economic factors. Technological and organizational innovations were dominant driving forces of the flood history. The popularization of iron plows and embankment of the lower river in the 4th century BC initiated a positive feedback loop on levee breaches. The strength of the feedback loop was enhanced by farming of coarse-sediment producing areas, steep hillslope cultivation, and a new river management paradigm, and finally pushed the flood frequency to its climax in the seventeenth century. The co-evolution of river dynamics and Chinese society is remarkable, especially farming and soil erosion in the middle river, and central authority and river management in the lower river.
ISSN:0044-7447
1654-7209
DOI:10.1007/s13280-012-0290-5