Flood hits China’s largest desert

(ECNS) — Recently, China’s largest desert, the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, experienced flooding, which sparked widespread discussions on social media.

A video surfaced online shows vehicles running on a waterlogged road through the Taklimakan Desert and a significant accumulation of water on both side of the highway.

Located in the center of the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang, the desert is surrounded by the Tianshan, Kunlun and Altun Mountains. It has an annual average precipitation of no more than 100 millimeters but an evaporation amount up to 3,000 millimeter..

But experts say it is not uncommon to see flooding in the desert.

In the early and middle of August, a large range of high temperatures above 35 degree Celsius and local temperatures above 40 degree Celsius occurred in southern Xinjiang. The continuous warming caused the melting of mountain glaciers and snow.

In addition, frequent precipitation continued in western part of southern Xinjiang and heavy rainfall in mountain areas, resulting in mixed flood, said Lv Xinsheng, an expert from Xinjiang Meteorological Bureau.

From August 20 to 24,several tributaries of the Tarim River exceeded their flood warning level, causing the water to flood into the dunes, Lv added.

Local residents commented on the social media that the increase of water in the region effectively promoted the recovery of desert vegetation. However expert said the arid pattern of the Taklimakan Desert has not changed since the water seepage in the desert is relatively fast, but its water retention capacity is poor.