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Analysis of Drought Change and Its Impact in Central Asia
Zhi LI 1 , 2( ), Yupeng LI 1 , 2, Hongwei LI 1 , 2, Yongchang LIU 1 , 2, Chuan WANG 1 , 2
Advances in Earth Science 2022, 37 (1): 37- 50.
Introduction

Global warming has intensified the threat of drought in Central Asia, making problems such as water shortage, ecological degradation and transboundary river disputes more prominent. The research shows that in the past half century, the overall change trend of meteorological drought degree in Central Asia has not been significant. However, with the regional high temperature fluctuation, it has shown an obvious drying trend since 2000. About 65% of the regions show the intensification of drought degree, and the drought intensity will continue to increase under the SSPs scenarios in the future. We designed numerical experiments and found that drying trend responding to the dramatic increase in air temperature and slight decline in precipitation. From different drought sub categories, the area of extreme arid areas and arid areas in Central Asia shows an increasing trend at the rate of 0.02 × 104 km2/a and 0.22 × 104 km2/a, mainly concentrated in the northern margin of Tarim Basin in Xinjiang and in southern Kazakhstan. At the same time, about 84% and 81% of the soil moisture in the shallow layers (0~10 cm,10~40 cm) have exhibited decreasing trend, respectively. The increase of vegetation transpiration and soil water dissipation in plain desert areas has led to the decline and death of some shallow root desert plants with weak drought resistance, which depend on groundwater and soil water. The agro-ecological drought is intensified, and the hydrological drought is more complex. The conclusions will provide a scientific basis for water resources planning and management and ecological protection in Central Asia.

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