Flooding has affected the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, north-west China, with videos on social media showing submerged roads.
The inundations were triggered by high temperatures, snowmelt, and heavy rainfall since July, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. These conditions caused Tarim River tributaries to overflow, prompting the Xinjiang Water Resources Department to activate a flood emergency response.
Since mid-August, temperatures have exceeded 40C in some parts of the desert, which is China’s driest. Rapid snowmelt in the surrounding mountains increased flow from tributaries into the Tarim River, Lü Xinsheng, chief forecaster at the Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory, told China Meteorological News Agency.
Additionally, rainfall in July was 27% above average. And between 17 and 27 August, rainfall in the area of the Tarim River was four times higher than usual.
This isn’t the first time the area has faced flooding. In August 2022, the appearance of a lake in the southern Taklamakan Desert sparked discussions in China, with some netizens wrongly speculating that climate change might be transforming the desert into an oasis.
North-west China is highly sensitive to climate change, with warming and increased precipitation becoming particularly evident in the last two decades.
From 2001 to 2022, average temperatures in Xinjiang rose by 1C compared to 1961-2000, and average precipitation increased 16.1%. This warming has also accelerated glacier melt, with the glacial area in Xinjiang shrinking by 11.7% over the past 60 years.
“Warming and increased precipitation cannot alter the landscape of arid deserts in north-west China,” Chen Yaning, of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told China Newsweek.
However, Chen continued: “Climate-induced changes in glaciers and water cycles will intensify uncertainties in water resource supply, increasing hydrological volatility.”
“Glacier retreat will directly impact the region’s future water security,” he added.
Read Dialogue Earth’s story on how climate change is affecting efforts to preserve cultural treasures in north-west China.