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Over the past two decades, environmental studies in research on prehistoric China have been gaining popularity and importance. For Northwest China in particular, climate change, especially the so-called ~4.2k BP event has been seen as the main reason for an alleged collapse of Late Neolithic societies and a transition to pastoral-heavy economies and mobile lifeways. Yet, these explanatory models tend to rely on limited archaeological and environmental data and non-contemporaneous historical data, resulting in simplistic causal relationships between environmental changes and social response. This paper re-evaluates the Incipient Bronze Age in China's Northwestern region, discussing evidence for climate change and its exact dates, as well as textual and archaeological evidence. We argue that the old narratives perpetuating the image of a dichotomy between Steppe and Sown are inaccurate, while large-scale models of region-wide subsistence change in response to climate cooling tend to disregard local developments and group-specific responses as well as chronological issues. Focusing on the Xindian and Siwa archaeological phenomena, this paper provides a view into sub-regional responses to this climate event, warning against simplistic broad-brush reconstructions and calling for both a return to archaeological fundamentals and large-scale intensive fieldwork and interdisciplinary studies involving archaeologists, paleobotanists, zooarchaeologists, isotope specialists, and climate scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying the relative influences of anthropogenic activities and climate change on soil erosion and deposition during the Holocene, when both forces have been interacting is a complex problem. Analysis of long-term patterns in soil erosion and lake deposition in a basin can provide the basis for untangling the complexities of climate and anthropogenic forcings. In this paper, sedimentary sequences from Xingyun Lake are compared with simulated soil erosion rates in the basin to explore the relationship between river basin soil erosion and lake deposition during the Holocene in Yunnan, China. Modern soil erosion rates are calculated using RUSLE, while Holocene soil erosion rates are estimated using modern rates with reconstructed precipitation and vegetation cover sequences. Through this investigation, we found the following results. First, Holocene vegetation in the lake basin was mainly affected by climate change, and the vegetation experienced the same pattern of changes as the climate. Soil erosion and lake deposition rates, along with changes to vegetation cover, were synchronous with precipitation trends during the Holocene. Second, soil erosion and lake deposition have been exacerbated by human activities, such as deforestation and land reclamation in the Xingyun Lake basin. Finally, this study provides new insights into the effects by anthropogenic impacts and climate forcing on the processes of soil erosion and lake deposition on the millennium scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on compilation of a large number of archaeological and palaeosol 14C-ages, the Summed Probability Method is used to reconstruct population history and climatic patterns on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the period 8.5–3.5 cal. ka BP. During this period, the population experienced two major expansion periods and several climatic fluctuations. The first population expansion began at around 7.8 cal. ka BP, and the second at around 5.8 cal. ka BP. During the first period, although already in combination with cultivation of broomcorn millet the population growth was supported mainly by hunting and gathering. With the switch from broomcorn millet to foxtail millet, plant cultivation became the major factor promoting a second population increase. In this paper, we demonstrate that, initially, suitable climate and agriculture both can facilitate population growth and climate events had a significant influence on demographic fluctuations. However, when reaching the threshold of land capacity, population became increasingly more sensitive towards climate fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring prehistoric variation in human–environmental interaction is critical for understanding the historical patterns and mechanisms of long-term human–land evolution. In this paper we review the published radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) data from Late Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in China, analyze the spatial–temporal distribution of these sites, and compare it with the results of recent paleoclimatic and archaeological studies. We seek to study the trajectory and influencing factors of human–environmental interactions in late prehistoric China. We detect changing patterns in the relationship between humans and the environment during different phases of the prehistoric era in China. Climate change clearly affected the environment of hunter-gatherer groups between 50,000–10,000 BP (before present, defined as 1950AD), and variation in human population in Neolithic China (∼10,000–4000 BP) was likely influenced primarily by the development of agriculture, in addition to substantial climate events. The spatial scale of human settlements expanded in the Bronze Age (∼4000–2200 BP) in a period of cooling climate. During this time the impact of human activities on the environment increased significantly, primarily caused by technological innovations related to the onset of prehistoric transcontinental cultural exchange in Eurasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive and integrative view of East Asian monsoon evolution during the Holocene is still under debate, and additional high-resolution proxy records from climatically sensitive locations are requisite to solve this complex issue. In this paper, we present three well-dated mud/peat cores from a paleo-pingo depression in the Sanjiang Plain, a climatically sensitive region to monsoon variation, to reveal the paleoenvironmental history of the wetland and discuss the regional impacts from monsoon evolution. A paleolake developed in the study area before 5.5 ka BP, and a peatland initiated thereafter consequent upon the gradual shrinking of the paleolake. This transition lasted until 4.5 ka BP, when the paleolake changed entirely to a wetland. Considering the prevalent monsoon climate in the Sanjiang Plain, we suggest that the lake-to-wetland transition from 5.5 to 4.5 ka BP indicates a rapid decline of the East Asian summer monsoon in addition to autogenic basin infilling processes. Such a remarkable monsoon weakening event has been documented across northern China, and we associate this with ocean–atmosphere interactions throughout low-latitude regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and the United States are the world's top two greenhouse gas emitters. However, little is known as to the amount of attention the media in both countries have paid to the issue of climate change, and the ways in which their media framed the issue. To address both queries, this study analyzed the climate change coverage (N = 9,001) of the Chinese and US media, using a computational approach. Results revealed overall increases of attention to climate change in both countries' media from 2016 through 2019, whereas the Chinese witnessed a more evident increase after 2018. Moreover, the media in both countries tended to foster a sense of responsibilities rather than confining the issue to an episodic level. Furthermore, the US media highlighted political conflict and the catastrophic consequences of climate change, whereas the Chinese media highlighted public accountability and governance, as well as economic development and competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on the state of cultural studies today. It asks to what extent cultural studies can move with the times, now that we live in a radically altered world dominated by global challenges such as climate change, the rise of China, and technological transformation. It points to the importance of focusing on cultural studies' institutional and material conditions of possibility if it is to continue to exist as a distinct intellectual field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sanjiang Plain (SJP) wetland is the largest freshwater marshland in China. Peatlands were initiated early and are widely distributed across the SJP and form a large carbon (C) pool. Consequently, there is a growing interest in understanding past, present, and future peatland dynamics. Most studies on peatland dynamics have been carried out on boreal and subarctic region; however, there are limited data about peatland dynamics on temperate region, such as SJP wetland, which is sensitive to climate change and human disturbance. Here, we presented a data synthesis of basal peat ages, peatland area, and peat C accumulation rate in the SJP to examine Holocene peatland dynamics and climate sensitivity, along with total C storage and their future fate. We show that peatland initiation in the SJP started in the early Holocene, but the most intense period of peatland initiation occurred during the late Holocene, when the climate was colder and drier than the early and mid-Holocene. And the C accumulation rate also continued to increase during the late Holocene. Our results suggest that insolation and monsoon intensity as well as the local topographic characteristics and hydrology during the late Holocene in the SJP might have played an important role in causing the highest rates of peatland initiation and C accumulation. Based on the Second National Wetland Resources Survey data, we estimated that the total peatland covered an area of about 10,520 km2 on the SJP and currently stores ~0.26 Pg C. However, human activities, together with the widespread warming on the SJP over the past 60 years, not only reduce the area of wetlands but also have switched it from being a net C sink to a significant C source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on modern pollen assemblages of human-induced vegetation is conducive to extracting human impact information, and provides basis for determining human impact intensity. The use of 189 surface soil pollen samples from human-induced and natural vegetation shows that there were significant discrepancies of indicator pollen taxa and human impact intensity between different vegetation types in Northern China. The results demonstrate that forest and grassland pollen assemblages are dominated by natural vegetation pollen taxa, which show little effect from human impact. Farmlands are dominated by Cereal Poaceae pollen. Cultivation methods, climate conditions and human impact intensity are the main reasons that cause discrepancy in different regions. Uncultivated lands could be effectively distinguished based on common human-companion plant pollen types and certain amount of crop pollen, which display the first step of secondary succession from human-induced to natural vegetation. Indicator species analysis shows that Cereal Poaceae, Trilete spore, Humulus and Brassicaceae indicate farmlands; weeds Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Ranunculaceae and Selaginella sinensis indicate uncultivated lands; grasslands have the largest number of indicator pollen taxa, in which Convolvulaceae, Artemisia, Asteraceae, Liliaceae, Polygonaceae, and Nitraria pollen have the highest indicator values; in forests, Betula, Larix and Quercus have the highest indicator values with statistical significance. Meanwhile, Human Influence Index (HII) values can be used to differentiate human-induced and natural vegetation. The calibration model of pollen-HII based on the weighted averaging plus partial least squares (WA-PLS) method exhibits a good statistical performance (R2 = 0.69), and the HII values have the same trend of change with Cereal Poaceae percentage. Our results confirm that pollen from human-induced vegetation can provide reliable estimates of HII, which provides a good reference for restoring human impact intensity in fossil pollen assemblage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Revisiting the classical Gradmann’s ‘steppe theory’ for central Europe, we examine whether the early Holocene steppe habitats survived the critical period of maximum Holocene afforestation: the mid-Holocene bottleneck. Despite the undisputable fact that afforestation was a dominant ecological factor in this period, our parallel analyses of pollen and molluscs from sedimentary sequences discovered in the dry lowland area of northern Bohemia, Czech Republic (Zahájí and Suchý potok sites, lower Ohře area) provide strong evidence for uninterrupted local occurrence of steppe grasslands throughout the Holocene. At the onset of the Neolithic agriculture, this area was covered by forest-steppe. Analogously to the present forest-steppe landscapes of eastern Europe and south-western Siberia, dry areas of northern Bohemia were dominated by open-canopy pine–birch forests that enabled continuous survival of many light-demanding plant species from the late Glacial and early Holocene to the Neolithic. Later on, anthropogenic deforestation and livestock grazing created a semi-natural steppe. Our data suggest that this secondary steppe can be viewed as a direct continuation of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene natural steppe rather than a purely cultural steppe developed only after deforestation of a continuously forested mid-Holocene landscape by humans. At the same time, we provide evidence supporting Gradmann’s ‘steppe theory’, assuming that in central Europe, Neolithic farming started in those areas that were not completely forested but contained remnants of natural steppes. This finding has important implications for the interpretation of present biodiversity patterns in central Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two major oases in the lower reaches of Heihe River, Inner Mongolia of China, the desertified ancient Juyanze oasis (AJO) and the modern Ejina oasis (MEO), experienced dramatic environmental changes and human migrations as documented in historic records. The processes and mechanisms of their evolution are the key for us to understand the environmental changes and human activities in this region, yet are still unclear. This study provides an evolution chronology of these two oases by analyzing the optical dating records from MEO and 14C dating records from AJO and discusses their evolution mechanisms based on drainage network analysis and field investigations. The optical dating samples collected from aeolian sands below humus layers in Populus euphratica woodlands on MEO indicate that this oasis developed between 1.05 and 0.45 ka ago, while the 14C dating samples collected from a number of dead P. euphratica trees from AJO consistently suggest that the complete desertification of AJO occurred before ~400 cal. a BP. These new dating results imply that the two oases evolved simultaneously but in opposite directions. That is, AJO desertified while MEO developed gradually in the last 1 ka. Climate change occurring over the last 1 ka in northern China cannot explain the opposite evolution directions of these two adjacent oases. The drainage network analysis based on digital elevation models (DEMs) and field observations and the dates (~0.5 ka) of the top lacustrine layer from GaxuNur Lake north of MEO suggest that the evolution of the two oases was mainly governed by Heihe River migration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Northeastern China involves complex interactions between the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation and the polar climate system, and plays a significant role as the bridge communicating low- and high-latitude climatic processes. High-resolution multi-proxy analysis of a robust accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dated lacustrine sediment core recovered from Jingpo Lake in Northeastern China provides a detailed history of EASM variability and vegetation changes since ~5100 cal. yr BP. The period from ~5100 to 3600 cal. yr BP was characterized by the highest pollen percentages of Quercus, Ulmus, Juglans and Corylopsis; low Md (median grain size diameter); and high δ13Corg values, reflecting a relatively warm and humid period. The period between ~3600 and 2100 cal. yr BP is characterized by high Md and low δ13Corg values, and a rapid increase in pollen percentages of herbs, indicating cool and dry climatic conditions. From ~2100 to 150 cal. yr BP, a gradual increase in δ13Corg values and low Md values, and a rapid increase in Carpinus, Juglans and Corylopsis pollen percentages was observed, indicating climate change towards warmer and wetter conditions. After ~150 cal. yr BP, the highest values of total organic carbon mass accumulation rate (TOC-MAR), total nitrogen mass accumulation rate (TN-MAR) and magnetic susceptibility suggesting that the Jingpo Lake region has been severely affected by human activities. The EASM variability in Northeastern China during the mid- to late Holocene shows trends similar to EASM records in China. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the variability of the EASM during the mid- to late Holocene on the multi-decadal to centennial scale was forced by changes in both solar output and oceanic–atmospheric circulation interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relation between climate change and historical rhythms has long been discussed; however, this type of study still faces the lack of high-resolution data of long-term socio-economic processes. In this study, we collected 1101 items of direct and proffered evidence from 24 Chinese fiscal and economic history books written by leading contemporary scholars. By analysing the semantics of words, we reconstructed a 2130-year-long fiscal sequence with decadal resolution to express the phase transition of fiscal soundness for approximately 21 dynasties in China. Our reconstruction shows four relatively sufficient stages and three relatively deficient stages, with several secondary stages lasting 60 or 160 years on average within each large stage, from 220 bc to ad 1910. Then, the fiscal association with climate change was analysed. The results show that the fiscal crisis was more likely to occur in cold-dry climatic scenarios. Both temperature and precipitation displayed more significant effects on the fiscal fluctuation within the long term, particularly for temperature. In short, fiscal decline had a 10-year lag in response to decreasing precipitation, whereas influence of decreasing temperature on the fiscal balance might be through amplifying already deteriorating fiscal conditions. Regional differences existed in the influence of precipitation on the fiscal balance. The precipitation in the Northern China Plain and in the Jiang-Huai area had more significant effects on the fluctuation of the dynastic fiscal balance than on that in the Jiang-Nan area. In particular, the dynastic finance was more sensitive to the change in the precipitation in the Northern China Plain because of its special geographical, economic and social backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyses of diatoms, grain size, magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon, and total nitrogen were applied to a 9.26 m long sediment core, spanning the last 12.2 kyr, from a small treeline lake (Tiancai Lake, ~3898 m a.s.l.) in southwest China. Diatom assemblages are dominated by Cyclotella distinguenda, Aulacoseira species, and small fragilarioid taxa, all of which are sensitive to changes in water pH and light conditions that are probably related to vegetation development and runoff processes triggered by variations in the Asian monsoon. High abundances of C. distinguenda and Pseudostaurosira brevistriata reflected cold and dry climates during the Late Glacial (12.2–11.4 kyr BP). In the early Holocene (11.4–9.4 kyr BP), a steep decline in C. distinguenda and a visible increase in Aulacoseira alpigena responded to a strengthening monsoon intensity. The persistent increases in A. alpigena mirrored strong monsoon intensity in the middle Holocene (9.4–4.6 kyr BP). After 4.6 kyr BP, the reduction of A. alpigena was related to weak monsoon intensity in the late Holocene. The main trends of diatom evolution show a general correspondence to variations in solar insolation. Three visible excursions, with an increase in P. brevistriata and a drop in A. alpigena, centered at around 8.4, 2.5, and 0.3 kyr BP, correlate with low sunspot numbers and known cold events in the North Atlantic. Some similarities and correlations between the Holocene diatom data, the North Atlantic record, and solar insolation indicate that variations in the Asian monsoon response to changes in solar forcing and the North Atlantic climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]