Chinese experts predicted that rising global temperatures would create more intense Mei-yu in China's Yangtze River valley region, according to a research published on National Science Review.

Mei-yu is a significant rainy weather phenomenon in China's middle-lower Yangtze River valley region, lasting from June 15 to July 10 each year. It has far-reaching consequences for agriculture, economy and people's lives.

Based on observations and analysis of data between 1961 and 2022, researchers from Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology analyzed the changes in the characteristics of Mei-yu as a result of global warming.

According to their study, notable increasing long-term trends are detected in the number of days without rainfall, the intensity of rainfall events, and the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events in the Yangtze River valley region during the Mei-yu period over past decades.

According to their research, the increasing trend in the number of days without rainfall is attributed to decreased relative humidity over land and a longer period needed for the air to be replenished with moisture.

The increasing trends in the intensity of rainfall events and both frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events are attributed to the strengthened transient water vapor convergence and convection in the atmosphere under global warming.

The researchers found that the number of days without rainfall, intensity of rainfall events, and frequency of extreme precipitation events will increase in the Yangtze River valley region during the Mei-yu period under the two degrees Celsius warming scenario.

Overall, the intensity of rainfall events during the Mei-yu period has the most significant response to climate change in observations and projections.

The researchers acknowledged the relatively large uncertainty of their study since the research model had limited ability to simulate the change of Mei-yu

(With input from Xinhua)