During this period, the Takramakan Desert in Xinjiang has become the focus of many people's attention. Taklamakan Desert located in the center of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang is the largest desert in my country and the tenth largest desert in the world. It has a very large area. The east-west span of the entire Taklamakan Desert reaches about 1,000 kilometers, and the north-south span has almost reached about 400 kilometers. The entire Taklamakan Desert has an area of 330,000 square kilometers, much larger than the land area of most countries in the world.
As the largest desert in my country, the climatic conditions of the Taklamakan Desert are actually not very good. First of all, the average annual rainfall in the Taklamakan Desert does not exceed 100 ml, which is very drought, and it is even only 4-5 mm in the lowest rainfall year. Although the rainfall is extremely low, the average evaporation of the Taklamakan Desert is as high as 2500-3400 mm, which means that the evaporation rate of water here is far beyond the rainfall rate. It is precisely because the environment of the Taklamakan Desert is extremely harsh, so few organisms can survive here. In order to absorb underground water, the plants that take root here have very developed root systems.
Now the Taklamakan Desert has become the focus of everyone's attention because there are many lakes in this desert, which is in great contrast to the extremely arid desert areas. Lakes appear in the desert. What's going on? Can the "warm and humidification" of northwest China really return to the Han and Tang dynasties?
The reason for the occurrence of lakes in the Taklamakan Desert is this. This year, there is relatively more rainfall in Xinjiang. In addition, the melting of some alpine glaciers near the desert has also accelerated, and the melting of a large number of glaciers has increased surface runoff and groundwater flow. The Tarim River has a relatively large amount of water this year, and it is the year with the largest amount of water in the past 10 years. A large amount of river water overflowed from the Tarim River and flowed to the nearby Taklamakan Desert, so so many lakes formed in the Taklamakan Desert. The emergence of these lakes forms a very sharp contrast with the arid desert, and the scene is very spectacular.
"warm and humid" in northwest China
Although lakes are still rare in the Taklamakan Desert, scientists' research shows that the cold and arid northwest region in China's history is gradually "warm and humid". After seeing this research conclusion, many friends may be unable to sit still. The originally cold and arid northwest region is slowly becoming warm and humid. Does it mean that it can return to the Han and Tang dynasties?
Theoretically speaking, the arid and cold northwest region is not suitable for the growth of many organisms. The climate environment is relatively harsh, but as it continues to become warmer and humid, the distribution area of northern vegetation will be larger than it is now, and in principle it will be more suitable for development than it is now. Is it really our greatest opportunity to us?
It is undeniable that the climate environment has indeed been changing throughout history, and the northwest has been wet. Researchers found that in the past 5,000 years of my country, the annual average temperature was about 2℃ higher than the current 2,000 years. The Han and Tang dynasties were relatively warmer eras. About 3,000 years ago, the Yellow River basin was as warm and humid as the current Yangtze River basin.
Although our northwest actually has a trend of "warm and humidification", this does not mean that the infinite scenery of the prosperous Tang Dynasty will really be reproduced. After all, the climatic conditions are very complex and there are many influencing factors. Moreover, even though the northwest region is relatively humid now, the evaporation in these desert areas is very large. For example, the average evaporation in the Taklamakan Desert is as high as 2500-3400 mm, and the rainfall has not increased significantly, which basically cannot change the fact that the northwest region is facing a shortage of water resources.
