Projected changes in total runoff in 2080–2099 relative to 1986–2005 and water stress status from the historical period to the end of this century at the basin level and over the entire Xinjiang region. Total runoff change consists of precipitation-constrained runoff change and glacier runoff change. Blue lines denote the rivers of Xinjiang, and the distribution of agricultural land and glaciers is shown in gold and blue, respectively. Credit: Feng et al., 2022, Figure 3b
Source: AGU Advances
Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors.

Feng et al. [2022] investigated the interdependence of wet and dry regimes characterizing China’s Xinjiang region. The authors demonstrate how the precipitation has changed in an important dryland area and, by examining competing hypotheses, offer compelling explanations for discovering the underlying mechanisms. Recent hydrologic observations provide evidence of unprecedented wet conditions with historical records (and, thus, issues) linked to severe droughts. The Xinjiang region has been historically affected by water scarcity, a challenge of paramount importance considering agriculture is the determining critical (or prosperous) social and economic factor.

Citation: Feng, Y., Wang, T., Chen, Y., Zuo, L., Li, X., Xu, C., et al. [2022]. A transition towards an unusually wet condition will not alleviate water scarcity risk in Xinjiang, China. AGU Advances, 3, e2021AV000589. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000589 

—Tissa Illangasekare, Editor, AGU Advances

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