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Review
In the past two years, the Taklamakan Desert, a place known as the "Sea of Death", has experienced frequent torrential rains and even caused floods! You know, what was supposed to be a place of extreme dryness and yellow sand is surprising that the climate is suddenly changing so fast!
Such abnormal weather can't help but make people think: Is there something wrong with our earth? Or is it just a little prank by nature? Will this desert become an oasis because of climate change?
Arid desert
The Taklamakan Desert, located in the southern part of Xinjiang, China, is the largest desert in China and the tenth largest desert in the world. The name of this desert means "to enter and not to exit" in the Uighur language, so it is also known as the "Sea of Death".
The area of this desert is about 330,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the size of three Zhejiang provinces! The climate is extremely dry, with less than 100 mm of precipitation per year and between 2,500 and 3,500 mm of evaporation. In other words, as soon as the raindrops fall to the ground, they quickly evaporate and disappear.
The terrain of the entire desert is dominated by mobile sand dunes, which vary in height from 100 to 200 meters, and some even reach as high as 300 meters. The desert landscape can be described as ever-changing, sometimes you will see sand dunes that snake like dragons, and sometimes sand dunes that line up like fish scales.
There are also two special sand dunes called the "Mount of the Holy Sepulchre", one of red sandstone and the other of white plaster, which are very spectacular.
Although the Taklamakan Desert looks very inhospitable, there are some signs of life around it. For example, along the banks of the Yarkand, Tarim, Hotan and Cherchen rivers, dense poplar forests and tamarix shrubs grow.
These plants form the "green island" of the desert and survive tenaciously in this dry land. In addition, the desert also contains abundant groundwater and oil and gas resources, especially oil and gas resources, which provide important support for local economic development.
Floods and torrential rains
In recent years, the weather in the Taklamakan Desert seems to be becoming more and more "out of the ordinary".
In July 2021, a sudden flood hit the Yuqi area of Sinopec's northwest oil field, flooding roads in the oil area, flooding 50 exploration vehicles and 30,000 sets of equipment, and affecting an area of more than 300 square kilometers. This is a bit outrageous in the desert to fight floods and provide disaster relief!
In September 2022, the Taklamakan Desert made headlines again. Due to the dual effects of high summer temperatures and heavy rainfall, the Tarim River basin swelled and overflowed the river, forming many temporary small lakes. The contrast between these lakes and the surrounding yellow sand in the sunlight is a spectacular sight.
In July 2023, floodwaters hit the Ruoqiang to the end of National Highway 315, disrupting traffic and covering large areas of jujube trees along the route with silt. On May 27 of this year, another rain fell in the heart of the desert, and the grass squares on both sides of the third road that runs through the desert were washed away.
Experts have conducted an in-depth analysis of the abnormal weather phenomena in Taklamakan in recent years. Experts point out that these extreme weather events are mainly due to global warming. Warmer temperatures cause the snow in the mountains to melt faster, as well as bring more rainfall.
As a result, the volume of water in the Tarim River increases significantly, and when the river overflows, these temporary lakes are formed. Experts also say that climate change in recent years has indeed had a big impact on the entire desert. Especially in summer, these extreme weather events are not only increasing in frequency but also in intensity.
Will the future become an oasis?
In addition to the climate change brought about by global warming, meteorologists have also noted that large-scale changes in circulation have also had an important impact on the climate of Taklamakan .
Due to the strengthening of the Atlantic Current, the westerly circulation brought more humid air to northwest China. In addition, the warming of the Arctic has led to the southward movement of cold air, which works with the water vapor of the Pacific Ocean to transport a large amount of water vapor to the northwest, making the southern Xinjiang region more humid, increasing the amount of precipitation year by year, and the intensity of single rainfall has also increased significantly, resulting in frequent floods and lakes in the desert.
So, is it possible for this desert to be turned into an oasis? Experts are cautious about this. Although the warming climate has brought more precipitation, it is not enough to completely change the desert's ecosystem. Most of the lakes in the desert are temporary and disappear after a short time due to evaporation and seepage, and it is unlikely that the desert will become an oasis in the short term.
Experts also pointed out that although there has been an increase in oases in the northwest in recent years, this is mainly due to the results of artificial ecological water transfer and scientific planning. For example, the lower reaches of the Tarim River have been restored to partially dried rivers and lakes through ecological water replenishment, improving the ecological status of poplar forests.
However, these measures require sustained human intervention and large water inputs, and cannot rely solely on natural precipitation. In the long term, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the impact of climate change on this desert.
While we are seeing some positive changes, we cannot ignore the negative effects of rising temperatures. For example, high temperatures can cause soil moisture to evaporate quickly, increasing the risk of drought. In addition, the frequency of extreme weather events may also adversely affect local ecosystems and economic development.
end
Although a warming climate has brought more precipitation to Taklamakan and occasional lakes and floods in the desert, these phenomena have not been enough to completely alter the vast sea of sand, which is still an extremely arid region and faces serious natural challenges.
However, this does not mean that we can ignore these changes, but rather they remind us that climate change is quietly changing our environment. We need to take more scientific measures to strengthen the monitoring and research of climate change, and at the same time improve the capacity of ecological protection and disaster prevention and mitigation.
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