An Assessment of Tourism Climate Comfort in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Data
2.3. Methods
3. Results
3.1. General Distribution Characteristics of UTCI in Summer
3.2. General Distribution Characteristics of UTCI in Winter
3.3. Differences in the Distribution of Summer Comfortable Climate and Winter Comfortable Climate
3.3.1. Distribution Characteristic of Different Types of Climate
3.3.2. Area Comparison of Different Thermal Stress Levels in Summer and Winter
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- (1)
- The comfortable summer climate is affected by middle–high latitudes or high altitudes. The comfortable summer climate regions of the CPEC were mainly distributed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan and some regions of Xinjiang in China and also sporadically distributed in high-altitude mountains, such as the western plateau area. The comfortable winter climate regions were mainly distributed in vast areas, except for Karakoram and nearby areas. Compared with other countries and regions, altitude has the most significant impact on the distribution of a pleasant climate.
- (2)
- The climate has spatial heterogeneity, and the two types of pleasant climates show obvious regional separation characteristics. There are few regions with dual attributes of comfortable summer and winter climates in CPEC.
- (3)
- According to the calculation and comparison of the regional area of different climate comfort levels in summer and winter, it is found that the comfortable summer climate is scarcer in CPEC and is a monopoly resource, whereas the comfortable winter climate is widely distributed, meaning that it is a ubiquitous resource.
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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UTCI (°C) | Stress Category | Thermal Perception |
---|---|---|
>46 | Extreme heat stress | Torrid |
38–46 | Very strong heat stress | Hottish |
32–38 | Strong heat stress | Hot |
26–32 | Moderate heat stress | Warm |
9–26 | No thermal stress | Comfortable |
0–9 | Slight cold stress | Cool |
−13–0 | Moderate cold stress | Coolish |
−27–−13 | Strong cold stress | Cold |
−40–−27 | Very strong cold stress | Chilly |
<−40 | Extreme cold stress | Freezing |
Grid Type | Grid Number | Proportion (%) | Main Distribution Provinces |
---|---|---|---|
Summer | 320 | 19.99 | Xinjiang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
Winter | 1175 | 73.39 | All |
Summer and Winter | 75 | 4.68 | Xinjiang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
Unsuitable | 31 | 1.94 | Xinjiang |
Extreme Cold Stress | Very Strong Cold Stress | Strong Cold Stress | Moderate Cold Stress | Slight Cold Stress | ||||||
Area | Percentage | Area | Percentage | Area | Percentage | Area | Percentage | Area | Percentage | |
June | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32.18 | 3.06 |
July | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.94 | 0.37 |
August | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.94 | 0.37 |
Summer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.13 | 1.25 |
December | 0 | 0 | 1.31 | 0.12 | 89.31 | 8.49 | 139.21 | 13.24 | 90.62 | 8.62 |
January | 0 | 0 | 7.88 | 0.75 | 102.44 | 9.74 | 174.68 | 16.61 | 61.07 | 5.81 |
February | 0 | 0 | 5.25 | 0.50 | 77.49 | 7.37 | 102.44 | 9.74 | 143.81 | 13.68 |
Winter | 0 | 0 | 5.25 | 0.50 | 87.34 | 8.31 | 137.90 | 13.12 | 101.13 | 9.62 |
No Thermal Stress | Moderate Heat Stress | Strong Heat Stress | Very Strong Heat Stress | Extreme Heat Stress | ||||||
Area | Percentage | Area | Percentage | Area | Percentage | Area | Percentage | Area | Percentage | |
June | 179.93 | 17.11 | 59.10 | 5.62 | 149.07 | 14.18 | 533.88 | 50.78 | 97.19 | 9.24 |
July | 195.69 | 18.61 | 47.28 | 4.50 | 202.26 | 19.24 | 602.17 | 57.28 | 0 | 0 |
August | 203.57 | 19.36 | 61.07 | 5.81 | 286.97 | 27.30 | 495.79 | 47.16 | 0 | 0 |
Summer | 191.75 | 18.24 | 54.50 | 5.18 | 195.03 | 18.55 | 596.92 | 56.78 | 0 | 0 |
December | 730.22 | 69.46 | 0.66 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
January | 705.27 | 67.08 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
February | 671.12 | 63.84 | 51.22 | 4.87 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Winter | 719.72 | 68.46 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Zeng, D.; Wu, J.; Mu, Y.; Li, H.; Deng, M.; Wei, Y.; Sun, W. An Assessment of Tourism Climate Comfort in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. Sustainability 2020, 12, 6981. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176981
Zeng D, Wu J, Mu Y, Li H, Deng M, Wei Y, Sun W. An Assessment of Tourism Climate Comfort in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. Sustainability. 2020; 12(17):6981. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176981
Chicago/Turabian StyleZeng, Di, Jinkui Wu, Yaqiong Mu, Hongyuan Li, Mingshan Deng, Yanqiang Wei, and Weibing Sun. 2020. "An Assessment of Tourism Climate Comfort in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor" Sustainability 12, no. 17: 6981. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176981