Recently, many netizens posted that they encountered floods in the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang. Multiple videos showed water flooding the road, causing many vehicles to stall and making it difficult to pass. Are floods rare in deserts? Where does so much water come from? Can we take advantage of the opportunity to plant trees and turn deserts into oasis? A quick review.
Video/Xinjiang Radio and Television Station
Why do floods occur in the desert?
The Taklimakan Desert is located in southern Xinjiang. It is the largest desert in my country, the tenth largest desert in the world, and the second largest mobile desert in the world. It was once described by Western explorers as "Sea of Death".
Picture/Central Meteorological Observatory
However, in the past 10 days (August 17-27), the precipitation in the upper reaches of the Tarim River has exceeded four times.
According to the website of the Ministry of Water Resources on the 24th, since July 15th, affected by high temperature snowmelt and heavy rainfall, the Aksu River, Hotan River, and Yarkand River, the source of the Tarim River in Xinjiang, have experienced floods one after another; the Alar River Section of the main stream of the Tarim River (Aksu City) Over-warning floods occurred, and over-warning floods occurred in the Xinquman River section (Shaya County) and Yingbaza River section (Luntai County). High water levels in some river sections lasted for nearly a month. At present, the entire Tarim River is slowly receding. From 16:00 on August 5, the Water Resources Department of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region launched a flood prevention level IV emergency response.
"When the precipitation intensity in a local area exceeds the infiltration intensity of the desert, floods will occur." Zhou Hongfei, a researcher at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters at the time that the desert has a faster water infiltration rate but poor water storage capacity. .
Picture/Central Meteorological Observatory
html On August 26, the Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory issued an important weather forecast: It is expected that from the night of August 28 to the day of August 31, there will be light rain in most of Xinjiang from west to east (snow in high mountainous areas), in western southern Xinjiang, Bazhou There are heavy to heavy rains in some areas of the mountainous areas and in the western part of Northern Xinjiang, the mountainous areas of Tacheng area, the mountainous areas of Shihezi City, the mountainous areas of Urumqi City, and the mountainous areas of Changji Prefecture. The mountainous areas of Tacheng area, the southern mountainous areas of Kashgar area, the northern mountainous areas of Aksu area, Local heavy rains (accumulated precipitation of 50-70 mm) in the mountainous areas of Bazhou were accompanied by short-term heavy rainfall (maximum hourly precipitation of 20-40 mm), thunderstorms, strong winds, hail and other strong convective weather. It is necessary to prevent the adverse effects of heavy rains and strong convective weather on tourism, transportation, water conservancy, agricultural and animal husbandry production, etc., and strengthen response to secondary disasters such as local flash floods, landslides, and debris flows in mountainous areas, as well as mixed floods in the Tarim River Basin.The Central Meteorological Observatory predicts that in the next 10 days (August 27-September 5), western Xinjiang will still be rainy, with cumulative rainfall of 20 to 40 mm in areas such as the Tianshan Mountains, and up to more than 50 mm in some places.
Are floods rare in the desert?
In fact, flooding in the Taklimakan Desert is not a rare thing.
The Tarim River and its source tributaries, such as Hotan River, Yarkand River and other rivers, also often have snowmelt floods overflowing the rivers and appearing in the desert.
From 2017 to 2021 alone, Xinjiang has recorded more than 20 heavy rains and flash floods.
In July 2021, the Yuqi area of Sinopec Northwest Oilfield in the Taklimakan Desert was hit by floods. The flooded area reached more than 300 square kilometers. Many roads in the oil area burst embankments and dams, and telephone poles tilted. Nearly 50 exploration vehicles, 30,000 pieces of equipment were flooded.
In July 2021, the Yuqi area of Sinopec Northwest Oilfield was hit by floods. Video/China Meteorological Administration Meteorological Publicity and Science Center (China Meteorological News)
In recent years, the Tarim River located on the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert has also experienced floods.
In the summer of 2022, 21 rivers including the main branch of the Tarim River and its tributaries such as the Yarkand River, Aksu River, and Weigan River experienced floods above the warning flow rate. The flooding process in the main stream of the Tarim River lasted for 80 days and did not end until September 22.
What are the main causes of floods in Xinjiang?
On August 3, 2024, the Tarim River in Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, the flood impact widened the river channel (drone photo). Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Xinjiang is far away from the ocean and located deep inland. It has a typical temperate continental climate with scarce precipitation. But in fact, flooding is its main natural disaster.
The causes of floods in Xinjiang can be mainly divided into snowmelt floods, heavy rain floods and outburst floods.
Snowmelt floods
There are many tall mountains in Xinjiang, which intercept more water vapor and form more precipitation and snow in the mountainous areas. The glacier area in Xinjiang accounts for about 44% of the total glacier area in the country. In spring and summer, the temperature rises and a large amount of ice and snow melts, which will cause the river water level to skyrocket, easily causing floods.
Heavy rains and floods
Affected by climate change and topography, there are frequent heavy rains in the middle and low mountainous areas of Xinjiang. In spring and summer, rising temperatures, melting snow, and heavy rains can easily cause flooding in larger rivers.
Outburst flood
Outburst flood is a sudden flood caused by mudslides, landslides, ice, etc., blocking the river channel. Due to unique natural and geographical conditions, Xinjiang’s flood disasters are characterized by multiple flood types, high frequency, strong seasonality, and southern Xinjiang being larger than northern Xinjiang. Heavy rains and floods are most frequent and occur mostly in mountainous areas, with the northern and southern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains being the most concentrated.
Can we take the opportunity to plant trees and turn the desert into an oasis?
On June 7, 2023, Otok Qian Banner desert control personnel built sand barriers in the Mu Us Desert (drone photo). Picture/ic
my country actually has successful experience in turning deserts into oases. The Mu Us Desert is one of the four major sandy lands in my country. It is located at the junction of Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia provinces, with a total area of 42,200 square kilometers. Before liberation, the Mu Us Desert was a barren land with yellow sand flying all over the sky. Wherever human eyes looked, basically no green plants could be seen. However, since the 1950s, my country has proposed to control sandy lands, and the Mu Us Desert was one of the sandy lands that focused on at that time. After generations of local people's unremitting efforts, the forest coverage and vegetation coverage of the Mu Us Desert have reached 32.89% and 80% respectively, turning the desert into an oasis.
So, now that we have the precedent of the Mu Us Desert, can we take the opportunity to plant trees and turn the Taklimakan Desert into an oasis?
Experts from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences once said that due to the impact of global climate change, in the past 40 years, , Xinjiang shows a certain degree of warming and humidification. As the temperature rises, the annual precipitation also increases significantly, and floods occasionally occur.
But overall, the pattern of extreme drought in the desert has not changed. Regardless of frequency or intensity, from a global perspective, extreme weather has a rising or increasing trend, but there are also certain regional differences.
A small increase in precipitation is obviously a drop in the bucket for the 337,600 square kilometers of the Taklimakan Desert. Moreover, the desert climate is long-term and stable, and a small increase in precipitation will be difficult to fundamentally change the "warm, cool, and arid" climate pattern in the northwest region.
Experts said, "The desert is a special ecosystem and landscape, which has its own unique value. It is formed because it is far away from the ocean, has scarce precipitation, and has an arid climate."
Climate conditions and geographical environment determine that the Taklimakan Desert will not change Become an oasis.
Integrated from the Central Meteorological Observatory, CCTV Network, China Water Affairs, Yangcheng Evening News, Chengdu Chenghua District Science and Technology Association, Netcom Xinjiang, Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory, China Weather Network, etc.
Editor Ai Zheng Proofreading Fu Chunmin
