Climate Change in the Eastern Xinjiang of China and Its Connection to Northwestern Warm Humidification

Abstract

Eastern Xinjiang, as a typical extremely arid area, exhibits a high sensitivity to climate change. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the climatic changes in this region, along with their driving mechanisms, and comparing these with the broader trend of “warming and humidifying” in the Northwest can provide a scientific foundation for adapting to and addressing climate change. Based on a study of precipitation and temperature data from seven meteorological stations in Eastern Xinjiang from 1960 to 2022, the following findings were observed: (1) The climate of eastern Xinjiang is generally characterized by a warming and humidifying trend, with the rates of mean annual temperature and total annual precipitation being 0.39 °C/10 a and 3.32 mm/10 a. The eastern part of Xinjiang has less precipitation, with a lower growth rate than that of the neighboring regions, and higher temperatures, with a higher growth rate than that of the neighboring regions. (2) The first principal component of precipitation explains 47.85% of the variation in total precipitation, with a significant upward trend (p < 0.05) and an abrupt change in the late 1970s. It contains strong signals of regional precipitation, temperature, and dry and wet changes. (3) The increase in the first principal component of annual precipitation in eastern Xinjiang is mainly related to the warming of SSTs in the Indian Ocean and the central-eastern part of the tropical southern Pacific Ocean as well as the weakening of the Asian monsoon.