BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Ocean activities will have a greater impact on climate change in drylands, which might lead to intensifying drought and deterioration of ecosystem, according to Chinese researchers.

Researchers from Lanzhou University in northwestern Gansu Province analyzed how ocean activities influence climate change and the ecological environment in drylands of the world over the past 100 years.

According to Guan Xiaodan, the leading researcher, drylands account for approximately 41 percent of the global total land area. Significant warming and human activities increase the danger of land degradation and ecological deterioration, making drylands more sensitive to global climate change. As an important regulator of the Earth's climate system, the ocean's impact on climate change in drylands cannot be neglected.

Research showed that the mechanism of how the ocean activities including the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, El Nino and La Nina affect the dryland climate change.

Guan said the research contributes to a comprehensive understanding of climate change in drylands and also provides scientific reference for preventing desertification and mitigation strategies for global climate change.

"In the future, we will conduct more systematic studies on these mechanisms by combining various observational data and numerical simulations," Guan said.

The research was published in the journal Science China Earth Sciences.