Based on the meteorological data from 147 stations over the Yangtze River basin,climatology computational method was used to estimate global solar radiation.For a better understanding of spatial-temporal variations of global solar radiation over the Yangtze River basin since 1960,and the impact of the cloud cover and the atmospheric water vapour on the global solar radiation,linear regression and correlation analysis methods were used.The main results are as follows:Global solar radiation over the Yangtze River basin except for the Jinsha River basin decreases from east to west with fluctuant change in the upstream region and significant decrease in the downstream region.The decreasing trend in global solar radiation did not persist into the 1990s which coincided with the "global dimming" and "global brightening".The cloud cover and the atmospheric water vapour content are not the primary causes for the decrease in global solar radiation over the Yangtze River basin.