{"id":34766,"date":"2017-05-03T10:57:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T10:57:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-21T15:22:49","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T15:22:49","slug":"9766-global-warming-puts-china-s-solar-terms-out-of-whack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/9766-global-warming-puts-china-s-solar-terms-out-of-whack\/","title":{"rendered":"Global warming puts China\u2019s \u201csolar terms\u201d out of whack"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAt the grain rain, plant your gourds and beans,\u201d so the saying goes in China.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marking the end of April, the \u201cgrain rain\u201d is the sixth of China\u2019s 24 \u201csolar terms\u201d and the last of spring.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 24 solar terms are recognised as an ancient Chinese method of following the seasons, essential for helping farmers make decisions in an agrarian society.<\/p>\n

For centuries, they have offered a system of knowledge and guided social practices based on observations of the sun’s annual motion and the study of phenology. According to Chinese history, they originated over 2,000 years ago in the Yellow River Basin.<\/p>\n

In November 2016 the system was added to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation\u2019s (UNESCO) list of Intangible Cultural Heritage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to a Ming dynasty (1368\u20131644) treatise on agriculture, the grain rain season offers warming temperatures and reasonable rainfall, which are ideal for planting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that six out of every ten Chinese people live in cities, the solar terms are no longer valuable as an agricultural guide. But even if they don\u2019t realise it, the traditions many Chinese people follow \u2013 eating dumplings at the \u201cWinter Solstice\u201d or sweeping tombs at \u201cClear and Bright\u201d \u2013 are timed according to solar terms.<\/p>\n

Urbanisation and the decline of traditional agricultural practices does not mean the solar terms are obsolete though, as they are already deeply embedded in China\u2019s culture. But climate change means the solar terms are becoming less and less accurate.<\/p>\n

The 24 Solar Terms<\/strong><\/p>\n

By observing and recording the passage of the sun through the sky, the ancient Chinese divided its path into 24 parts, each lasting 15 days (one solar term). These were associated with changes in temperature and rainfall and the behaviour of animals and plants. Originating on the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the practice spread throughout China, so the story goes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Each term comes with a saying. \u201cInsects Awakening\u201d means it\u2019s time to plough. \u201cGrain Full\u201d that it\u2019s too early to harvest, and \u201cGrain In Ear\u201d too late. Historically, the solar terms provided real guidance on planting, irrigation, fertilising and harvesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier summers, later winters<\/strong><\/p>\n

But global warming means the solar terms and the phenomena they are aligned with are drifting apart.<\/p>\n

Research by Qian Cheng and others at the Chinese Institute of Atmospheric Physics, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has found that the overall warming trend means that annual temperatures have increased significantly.<\/p>\n

The seasons overall have become warmer. Spring and summer terms occur earlier, and ones in autumn and winter occur later.<\/p>\n

The number of days meeting the temperature condition for \u201cA Bit Frigid\u201d and \u201cMost Frigid\u201d (which have average temperatures of no more than 3.5C) are decreasing.<\/p>\n

Between 1998 and 2007 there were an average of 14 such days each year, less than half that recorded in the 1960s when there were 32. Conversely there were 20 days classed as \u201cMost Sweltering\u201d a year in the 1960s, but this almost doubled to 36 a year between 1998 and 2007.<\/p>\n

A warming climate means these solar terms are no longer helpful in guiding agricultural practices. The traditional time of year to begin planting spring seeds now occurs earlier. Winter wheat crops need to be planted 12 to 16 days earlier on China\u2019s central plains. Whereas, in the northeast, warming temperatures mean planting now happens much earlier.<\/p>\n

The solar terms hark back to a time when traditional wisdom helped farmers act in accordance with the climate\u2019s natural rhythms. But the impact of human activity has interfered with those rhythms. The question now is what significance the solar terms will have in the Anthropocene era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the place of\u00a0China\u2019s micro-seasons\u00a0in a warming Anthropocene era?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2265,"featured_media":59481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[761],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-34766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGlobal warming puts China\u2019s \u201csolar terms\u201d out of whack | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is the place of\u00a0China\u2019s micro-seasons\u00a0in a warming Anthropocene era?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/9766-global-warming-puts-china-s-solar-terms-out-of-whack\/\" \/>\n<meta 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