Global warming intensifies once-in-a-decade extreme precipitation in summer in China

Abstract

The intensification of extreme precipitation (EP) under global warming presents a substantial risk to human safety and societal progress. Studying the specific impacts of global warming on rare EP events in China not only enhances our comprehension of these shifts, but also paves the way for the development of proactive strategies to alleviate associated damages. Results from large-ensemble simulation data demonstrate that global warming has led to an enhancement in once-in-a-decade EP events in parts of western and central China over the past few decades, with the strengthening of the South Asia high (SAH) caused by global warming playing a dominant role. The strengthening of the SAH corresponds to an intensification and westward extension of the western Pacific subtropical high in the lower troposphere. The region between these two systems experiences enhanced upward motion and increased southwesterly water vapor transport, leading to a rise in climatological precipitation in western and central China, thereby raising the threshold for once-in-a-decade EP events.