Research Progress in the CAS Action Plan for the Development of Western China

I. Research Highlights(1) A relatively clear picture has been formedregarding the environment evolution process inwestern China during different periods, giving ananswer to the question: What on earth did it look like?The issue is examined at three different timedimensions, i.e., during the geological period, 2,000 and50 years ago. According to the studies, the spatial pat-tern of arid areas in Northwest China took shape roughlyone million years ago. Although there was a relativehumid and w…