Abstract
To improve how extreme events and climate variations are managed, there is a need to foster a deeper understanding of their interconnections. Consistent with this objective, this paper describes how precipitation extremes change both temporally and spatially in the Inner Mongolian Plateau (IMP), China and explains their causal factors. The paper refers to data collected from 43 meteorological stations in IMP and describes how precipitation extremes formed and how they influence agriculture. Data gathered and presented in this paper may be useful in understanding the extent to which the IMP is being influenced by global environmental change. This study reveals that the eleven precipitation extremes indices, except the number of precipitation days with over 0.5 mm (R0.5), number of heavy precipitation days (R10), and total precipitation in wet days (PRCPTOT), decreased in the IMP between 1959 and 2014, and most of them were non-significant in temporal. But the dry index has a larger magnitude decreasing trend than that of the wet indices, which can indicate that the dry situation was alleviated in IMP during the study interval. This study also indicated that precipitation extremes have strong relationships with elevation, latitude, and longitude. Atmospheric circulation and topography may be further primary reasons which result in the spatial variation characteristics in precipitation extremes over the IMP. Decreases in precipitation extremes, together with human activities such as livestock improvement and ecological restoration programs, has a positive effect in gross output value of agriculture and animal husbandry in the IMP. The results contribute to a deeper insight on the possible impacts of precipitation extremes and support the development of appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies to cope with climate extremes. This paper further proposes science-based policies for grassland protection, agriculture, and animal husbandry on the national or regional and herdsman scales.
Highlights
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of changes in precipitation extremes, and fully discusses their influence over the Inner Mongolian Plateau (IMP), using 11 indicators based on daily precipitation data from 43 meteorological stations over the period 1959 to 2014
Meteorological station-based daily precipitation data during 1959–2014 in IMP were used in this study, which were obtained from the Climate Data Center (CDC) of the National Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA)
Changes about CDD (−22.7 days/decade) and R0.5 (2 days/decade) are pronounced significant (p < 0.05) over time, and the other nine indices displayed non-significant. These results indicate that the duration of precipitation extremes in IMP seemed to decrease, while the frequency of precipitation events have increased, particular the R0.5
Summary
Influenced by global warming, the frequency and severity of extreme climate events has increased over the past decades [1,2,3]. Frequent occurrences of extreme hydrological and climatic events have a close relationship with the spatial and temporal variations of precipitation, especially extreme precipitation, which have resulted in devastating consequences on societies and their economies [4]. China has seen a ground average temperature increase from 1951 to 2017, exceeding the global increase rate, reaching 0.24 ◦ C/decade. Climate-related disasters, such as droughts and floods, increased in frequency, and in intensity, which had consequences for productivity, and created serious repercussions for the natural environment and infrastructure, resulting in threats to the lives and properties of billions of people, aggravating poverty. High temperatures and frequent droughts have led to the lower production and quality in prairie [5].
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