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Understanding the transition from meteorological to hydrological drought is essential for accurately predicting hydrological droughts. However, the factors driving this transition are intricate, and a comprehensive understanding of how direct human activities influence this shift in drought is lacking. In this study, we initially explored the spatiotemporal correlation between the occurrence of meteorological and hydrological droughts. Subsequently, we formulated multiple hydrological replenishment scenarios using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model to assess the environmental impact of the transition from meteorological to hydrological droughts. The Xijiang River Basin (XRB), the primary tributary of the Pearl River basin, was selected as the study area. Our results identified 91 meteorological droughts in the XRB, and only 66 hydrological droughts from 1978 to 2018. The transition rate from meteorological to hydrological drought demonstrated large spatial variability, with a basin‐average rate of 56% and the lowest transition rate of 45% in the headstream The transition from meteorological to hydrological drought was mostly rapid between November and December (~2 months), but can be prolonged during spring (about 3–5 months) and winter (around 7–9 months). Additionally, analysis of regeneration scenarios indicated that human activity has mitigated drought severity over recent decades. The primary driver affecting drought duration and frequency during the transition from meteorological to hydrological droughts shows conspicuous spatial disparities in densely populated areas. Although human activity significantly contributes to drought duration and severity compared to climate change during the transition in the headstream, its effects are more pronounced downstream in terms of drought duration and frequency. One plausible explanation is that increased water consumption downstream has considerably prolonged drought progression, whereas water management has counteractive effects on drought progression due to climate change in the headstream. Our findings offer valuable insights into the transition process from meteorological to hydrological droughts in the presence of extensive human activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented 2022 Yangtze River Basin (YRB) heatwave is a threat to human society and natural ecology, so the understanding of its underlying drivers is critical to regional climate adaptation and resilience. Here we conducted a multi‐method attribution analysis on the contribution of atmospheric circulation change and anthropogenic impacts to the occurrence probability and intensity of this extreme heatwave. Based on the nonstationary statistical analysis, the 2022 YRB heatwave is a 1‐in‐900‐year event and a 1‐in‐110‐year event with and without considering the 2022 YRB heatwave in the fitting, respectively. The large‐scale meteorological condition analysis shows that the 2022 YRB heatwave is featured with an anomalous high‐pressure system that favors a hot and dry atmospheric column, overlaid by anomalous subsidence and clear skies which leads to warming and greater solar heating. The ensemble constructed circulation analogue analyses show that the circulation anomaly fails to explain the observed 2022 YRB SAT anomalies fully. Specifically, 46% (0.132 ± 0.027°C decade−1) of the observed SAT trend during 1979–2022 (0.290 ± 0.048°C decade−1) is caused by anthropogenic warming and the associated thermodynamic feedback, while the remaining 54% (0.157 ± 0.038°C decade−1) of the trend is caused by changes in the large‐scale atmospheric circulation. Our findings on changes in atmospheric circulation patterns associated with YRB heatwave and anthropogenic contributions to YRB heatwave could provide valuable information for climate adaptation and mitigation strategies in the context of a warming climate. Plain Language Summary: Heatwaves are major climate extremes in the context of global warming, which have inverse effects on human health, food and energy production, and ecosystems. The 2022 heatwave in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) sets a new record in observational history with its extreme intensity, long duration, and widespread affected areas. The 2022 YRB heatwave is too exceptional to be possible without anthropogenic warming, which is a 1‐in‐900‐year event and a 1‐in‐110‐year event, respectively, with and without considering it in the nonstationary statistical fitting. An anomalous and prolonged high‐pressure system predominated the evolution of the 2022 YRB heatwave, which favors anomalous subsidence and clear skies, leading to hot and dry atmospheric conditions. Next, we applied an ensemble circulation constructed analogue approach to separate the contributions of large‐scale circulation changes and anthropogenic warming in generating the 2022 heatwave. The results reveal that circulation dynamics can only partially explain the 2022 event. When historical changes are taken into account, the changes in large‐scale circulation and anthropogenic warming, respectively, can account for 54% and 46% of the observed summer surface air temperature anomalies in the YRB region. Key Points: The 2022 Yangtze River Basin (YRB) heatwave, linked to anomalous circulation backgrounds, set unprecedented records for surface air temperature (SAT)The atmospheric circulation anomalies alone cannot fully explain the SAT anomalies during the 2022 YRB heatwaveThe variation in atmospheric circulation and anthropogenic warming contributed nearly equally to the historical SAT trend of YRB [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi‐mode mechanoluminescence (ML) materials are have applications such as anti‐counterfeiting, stress sensing, and information security. There is limited general consensuses on the luminescent mechanisms, even though exploring ML mechanism based on defects has shown significance in further studies exploring both ML materials design and application. Here, a deep‐red to near‐infrared (NIR) ML material is reported in a Mn2+‐activated double perovskite‐type compound (CaZnGe2O6: Mn2+). The abundant lattice sites within the crystal structure have enabled Mn2+ doping and defects. Two different photoluminescence (PL) emission bands peaked at 536 and 676 nm from 4T1(4G)→6A1(6S) are observed, which are attributed to the substitution of Zn2+ and Ca2+ sites by Mn2+, respectively. Hence, tunable emissions from green to red are realized in single Mn2+ doping, which can be further regulated by varying the Mn2+ concentration. Electrons and holes are captured by cation and anion defects (VZn′′$V_{{\mathrm{Zn}}}^{\prime \prime }$ and VCa′′$V_{{\mathrm{Ca}}}^{\prime \prime }$, VO••$V_{\mathrm{O}}^{ \bullet \bullet }$, vacancy of Zn, Ca and O ions), followed by the combination of such carriers to transfer energy to the Mn2+ 3d states to produce ML/persistent luminescence (PersL) under mechanical/thermal stimuli. Proof‐of‐concept applications in multi‐mode anti‐counterfeiting, temperature sensing, and X‐ray imaging fields are demonstrated. These results will deepen the understanding of single Mn2+‐doped multi‐stimulus‐responsive ML materials, inspiring the development of more high‐performance ML phosphors for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming alters the inherent variability of climate variables and induces more frequent extremes of hydroclimatic compound events with substantial impacts. The concurrence of hydrological drought and saltwater intrusion in the estuary can have devastating effects on agricultural production, water security, and ecological health. In this study, the compound drought and saltwater intrusion extreme indices, including the Blend Drought and Saltwater intrusion Index (BDSI), the Compound drought and Saltwater intrusion Index (CDSI) and the Standardized Drought and Saltwater intrusion Index (SDSI), were constructed to monitor compound extremes in the critical zone of Pearl River Estuary during the dry season from 1999 to 2016. The results reveal that the three compound indices can effectively depict different aspects of compound drought and saltwater intrusion extreme events in the critical zone of Pearl River Estuary. Among the three indices, the SDSI performed best in depicting compound drought‐saltwater intrusion events, while the BDSI outperformed the other indices in depicting high value of Standardized Runoff Index (SRI) and Standardized Saltwater intrusion Index (SSI), and the CDSI outperformed the other indices in depicting low values of SRI and SSI. Using those developed compound indices, we found that the frequency of abnormal and moderate compound drought‐saltwater intrusion events increased from 9.26% to 12.03% during the period of 1999–2016, while severe, extreme and exceptional compound drought‐saltwater intrusion events were rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of sudden drought after pluvial (or heavy pluvial after drought) is known as the Dry–Wet Abrupt Alternation (DWAA). This kind of disaster has been evaluated globally based on various DWAA indices. However, few validations have been performed to compare the various DWAA indices. Given that directly validating the identified DWAA events remains difficult because of the limited historical records of DWAA events, in this study, we developed a simple weighting analysis method to cross‐validate the detected DWAA events using three widely‐used indices. The weighting analysis method can be used to estimate the effectiveness of the DWAA indices by calculating the ratio of the synchronous DWAA events (the DWAA events could be synchronously detected by different indices) to the total number of the detected DWAA events. Results suggest that the standard weighted average of precipitation (SWAP) index has better performance for detecting DWAA events in the Pearl River Basin (PRB) compared to other indices. The soil moisture synchronization, meteorological concentration and real DWAA records further testify that the SWAP is more capable of detecting the DWAA events in the PRB. Based on the validation, the SWAP‐derived DWAA events show that both dry–wet (D–W) events and wet–dry events are severe in the upstream sub‐basins in the PRB, while D–W events are more frequent in the downstream PRB. Our study provides a simple but effective method to validate the detected DWAA. The finding underscores the need to validate DWAA detection generated from multiple indicators before further research, and it could help develop adaptation strategies to improve resilience to combined extremes under changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single‐crystal core multimaterial fibers have a wide range of applications in optics. Though some multimaterial fibers with single‐element crystal cores have been manufactured successfully, the preparation of binary and multielement crystals is limited by segregation or stoichiometry deviation during the thermal drawing and recrystallization process. This paper presents a new method, several times recrystallization by laser, to solve the crystal segregation problem of binary or multielement crystal core multimaterial fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the excellent infrared transparency, low phonon energy, and high rare‐earth solubility, germanate laser glass has attracted much attention in mid‐infrared fiber lasers for potential coherent laser radar systems, optical detection, remote sensing, and laser surgery. However, radiation‐induce darkening often occurs in fiber lasers that operate in radiation environment. Here, we report a useful strategy to improve the radiation resistance by adding multivalence Bi ions and discuss its radiation resistance mechanism. In order to study the effect of valence states on the radiation resistance of barium gallo‐germanate glass, we adjust the valence states of Bi ions by heat treatment, the potential mechanism of which is discussed in detail based on the absorption, photoluminescence (PL), and Raman spectra. The absorption, electron paramagnetic resonance, and photoluminescence spectra have proved the interconversion of Bi ions between low and high valence, which inhibits the formation of Ge‐related electron center (GEC) and non‐bridging oxygen hole center defects in the irradiation process. In addition, the Bi3+ content increased by heat treatment is beneficial to serve as electron‐trapping centers in γ‐ray irradiation, thus further reducing the formation of GEC. This study provides a simple method to achieve Bi valence regulation, so as to improve the radiation resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods in river deltas are driven by complex interactions between astronomical tides, sea levels, storm surges, wind waves, rainfall‐runoff, and river discharge. Given the anticipated increase in compound flood hazards in river deltas in a warming climate, climate‐informed regional to local extreme water levels (EWLs) is thus critical for decision‐makers to evaluate flood hazards and take adaptation measures. We develop a simple yet computationally efficient stress test framework, which combines historical and projected climatological information and a state‐of‐the‐art hydrodynamic model, to assess future compound coastal‐fluvial flood hazards in river deltas. Our framework is applied in the world's largest single urban area, China's Pearl River Delta (PRD), which is also characterized by densely crossed river network. We find that extreme sea level is the dominant driver causing the compound coastal‐fluvial flood in the PRD over the past 60 years. Meanwhile, there is large spatial heterogeneity of the individual and compound effects of the typhoon intensity, local sea‐level rise, and riverine inflow on coastal‐fluvial floods. In a plausible disruptive scenario (e.g., a 0.50 m sea‐level rise combined with a 9% increase in typhoon intensity in a 2°C warming), the EWL will increase by 0.76 m on average. An additional 1.54 and 0.56 m increase in EWL will occur in the river network and near the river mouth, respectively, if coastal floods coincide with the upstream mean annual flood. Findings from our modeling framework provide important insights to guide adaptation planning in river deltas to withstand future compound floods under climate change. Plain Language Summary: Compound floods pose serious threats to the dense population living in river deltas worldwide. Climate change could increase the compound flood hazards through stronger tropical cyclones, sea level rise, higher extreme precipitation, and river flows. It is urgent to understand how the so‐called grey swan events will evolve under a changing climate in these already flood‐prone areas. Here, grey swan events are high‐consequence events that are beyond people's experience but may be foreseeable and thus can be systematically prepared for. In this study, a storyline‐based framework is proposed to assess the potential grey swan compound floods under a warming climate. We apply this framework to China's Pearl River Delta, the world's largest single urban area. In a plausible disruptive scenario (e.g., a 0.50 m sea‐level rise combined with a 9% increase in typhoon intensity in a 2°C warming), we find that extreme water levels will increase by 0.76 m on average. Our flexible and computationally efficient storyline‐based framework could guide coastal planners to prepare for the grey swan compound flood hazards under climate change. Key Points: A quantitative stress test framework is proposed to assess the compound coastal‐fluvial flood in the river delta at minimal costA state‐of‐the‐art unstructured mesh generation technology is applied to develop an objective and reproducible hydrodynamic modelCompound effects of typhoon intensity, local sea‐level rise, and river inflow on coastal‐fluvial floods are systematically investigated [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the water budget closures and source of water budget imbalances is fundamental to improving the understanding of changes in the hydrological system and their associated impacts. We analyzed the long‐term (1982–2016) water budget for 1,561 watersheds by using various observed data sets for precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (ET), observed streamflow (Q), and total water storage change (∆TWS). The results show that 93%, 79%, 44%, and 20% of watersheds show water imbalances ratio less than 30%, 20%, 10%, and 5% of their corresponding precipitation. The average absolute water imbalance ratio for all watersheds is 14.2% of P. Watersheds showing large water imbalance ratio values are mostly located in biomes of Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests, Boreal Forests/Taiga, and Tundra. Different P, ET, and Q data set combinations result in different degrees of water imbalance. The water budget imbalance ratio shows a significant negative relationship with humidity index and vegetation coverage, while a positive relationship with the proportions of irrigation area and watershed area. Showing small water imbalances for most watersheds, reanalysis precipitation data set (ERA5 and MSWEP), MTE evapotranspiration data set performed better than other data sets in water budget analyses in most biomes. The uncertainties of P, ET, Q, and ∆TWSGRACE contribute to 40.1%, 14.3%, 26.6%, and 19% of the water budget imbalance on average, respectively. Improving the accuracy of P and ET estimates, and streamflow measurements are critical to better understanding the water budget and improves modeling of hydrological processes. Key Points: Water budget imbalances are less than 30%, 20%, 10%, and 5% of precipitation for 93%, 79%, 44%, and 20% of all watershedsReanalysis precipitation (ERA5 and MSWEP) and MTE evapotranspiration perform better than other data sets in the water budget in most biomesMoist Broadleaf Forests, Boreal Forests/Taiga, and Tundra show the largest water imbalance ratio due to bias in hydroclimatic data sets [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation on the climatic effects of irrigation is of great significance to fully understand the impact of water management on the Earth's environment and hydrological cycle. To comprehensively explore the effects of irrigation across different climatic regions over China, we propose a novel combined irrigation scheme (including dynamic and fixed irrigation schemes) into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)‐Noah‐mosaic model. Two experiments (with and without irrigation) are designed to simulate the impacts of irrigation over China on regional climate. As irrigation increases the latent heat flux but decreases the sensible heat flux and surface temperature, and the magnitudes of corresponding change are highly dependent on the irrigation amounts and irrigation fraction, the evaporative cooling effects significantly reduce the warm bias over extensive irrigation area during crop growing seasons. Meanwhile, irrigation increases soil moisture during both irrigated and non‐irrigated seasons. Compared with the dynamic irrigation scheme, the fixed irrigation scheme results in relatively higher subsurface runoffs due to the continuous infiltration. In addition, the irrigation‐induced changes on precipitation during spring (March–May) are weaker than that during summer (June–August). The opposed effects of irrigation cooling and wetting on generating convective precipitation, and the irrigation‐induced changes in large‐scale circulation jointly give rise to the heterogeneous changes of precipitation. Besides, the subgrid‐scale irrigation scheme can capture the climatic effects of irrigation in some grids where the dominant land use types are not cropland, indicating that in mesoscale simulation, climate model coupled with subgrid‐scale irrigation scheme may improve climate variables trends attribution studies. Plain Language Summary: China is a large agricultural country, wherein irrigation is the largest water consumption across both arid and humid area. Fully understanding the specific climatic effects of irrigation over arid and humid area is crucial for providing a sustainable climatic adapation to ensure food security. Here, we propose a combined subgrid‐scale irrigation scheme which can mimic irrigation processes of upland and lowland crops to a certain extent, and add it into Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to assess the impacts of irrigation on regional climate. The WRF model experiments clearly support that irrigation altered local climate and hydrological cycles though surface cooling and wetting effects. In addition, the climatic effects of irrigation in humid area are similar compared with that in arid area, despite that the irrigation water use in humid area is clearly larger than that in arid area. Key Points: A novel combined irrigation scheme respectively satisfied for lowland and upland crops is incorporated into Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) modelWith the modified WRF model, irrigation leads to significant cooling effects, and reduces warm bias over extensive irrigated areaIrrigation can influence local and remote precipitation through modifying large‐scale circulation in spring and summer [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies the variability of large‐scale atmospheric patterns (LSMPs) and atmospheric moisture circulation patterns associated with the variability of daily precipitation over East China using the self‐organizing maps (SOM) method. The spatiotemporal characteristics of the occurrence and intensity of daily precipitation were linked with the variabilities of LSMPs. Results show that the synoptic moisture transport over East China in both dry season and rainy season can be classified into eight patterns, and the occurrence frequency and primary occurring months of the eight patterns are varied. In the dry season, the wetter pattern (the drier pattern) exhibits a significant decreasing (increasing) trend with a slope of −0.23 (0.63)% year−1 at the confidence level of 0.95 during 1979–2018. The LSMPs corresponding to each atmospheric moisture circulation pattern, including the composite mean values of vertically integrated water vapour transport fields, 500 hPa geopotential height (Z500) anomalies and sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in surrounding oceans, indicate that the primary oceanic moisture source of the dry season is western North Pacific (WNP), while that of the rainy season is WNP and the Indian Ocean. The location and intensity variabilities of subtropical high affect the transport and amount of water vapour along with its western flank to arrive in East China. SSTA has an influential link with the regional circulations and convection activity, and thus plays an important role in affecting water vapour transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is one of the most destructive types of natural disasters, causing great losses of every aspects worldwide. Using a three‐dimensional (longitude, latitude, and time) clustering method based on gridded 3 month standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index data with a resolution of 0.25° collected for East China between 1960 and 2017, we identified and analysed five characteristics of drought events via the Mann–Kendall (MK) test. The results revealed that this method could capture drought events on the basis of their spatiotemporal characteristics. Drought development processes could be visualized via the spatial expansion of drought patches and the transferring path (reconstructed from the centroids of drought patches observed each month). By applying this identification method to the territory of East China, the occurrence of 174 droughts in the last six decades could be determined; furthermore, their objective existence in the spatiotemporal scale was confirmed by comparing the results with historical records and soil moisture data. The increasing moving speed of the centroids and the non‐repetitive rate of the impacted areas suggests that an increasing number of regions have likely been affected over time by large‐scale drought events. The drought patches associated with all of the events identified in the present study tended to move westward in South China and eastward in southwestern China. The remaining four characteristics (i.e., duration, severity, affected area, and intensity), were used to quantify the degree of drought, along with its development, where significant decreasing trends were found among the first three characteristics. In southwestern China, drought events decreased in frequency, but increased spatially, whereas drought events in southeastern China showed an opposite change. Drought events with a small spatial scale occurred more frequently in coastal regions. The majority of drought events mainly occurred in central and North China and moved northward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The atmospheric moisture transport processes are of great importance to the occurrence and intensity of precipitation extremes. In this paper, we review the linkage between processes, including the large‐scale atmospheric circulation, atmospheric moisture transport, and extreme precipitation events. We first summarize the thermodynamic and dynamic processes and moisture transport trackings for historical precipitation extremes. We then focus on the contribution of three major atmospheric moisture transport pathways, that is, atmospheric rivers, low‐level jets, and tropical cyclones, to the occurrence and intensity of regional precipitation extremes. Studies on large‐scale atmospheric circulation driving water vapor transport for precipitation extremes over East Asia and North America were specifically reviewed for the understanding of physical mechanisms and predictability of moisture transport and extreme precipitation events. We then pay more attention to the effects of global warming on atmospheric moisture transport, and thus regional precipitation extremes from the perspectives of thermodynamic and dynamic changes of the atmosphere. In the end, we summarize future research challenges on the physical mechanisms of atmospheric moisture transport that are associated with regional precipitation extremes, especially under a warming climate. This article is categorized under: Science of Water > Water ExtremesScience of Water > Hydrological Processes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop reference evapotranspiration (ET0), which connects the energy and water balance, is an important indicator used in water resource management and agricultural production. On the basis of daily meteorological data from 479 observation stations, we investigate changes in ET0 and associated climate factors across the main grain‐producing area (MGPA) of China from 1960 to 2015. The Mann–Kendall test and Sen's slope estimator were applied to detect trends in ET0, and regression analyses and composite analyses were used to evaluate the contributions of climatic variables and large‐scale anomalies that may affect ET0. The results of this study show that ET0 in the MGPA decreased (−2.67 mm/decade) during summer throughout the past 56 years, and that this change is largely attributable to decreased sunshine duration and wind speed (WS). Furthermore, decreased WSs in the 850‐hpa geostrophic wind field, are responsible for decreases in ET0 in Northeast China Region (−1.85 mm/decade), which affect ET0 by significantly weakening the observed surface WS. Meanwhile, significant low cloud cover variations accounted for the decrease in ET0 in the Huang‐Huai‐Hai Region (−7.85 mm/decade), Loess Plateau Region (−2.91 mm/decade), Yangtze River Region (−3.96 mm/decade), and Southwest China Region (−2.71 mm/decade). However, decreases in the integrated atmospheric water vapour content (IWVC), which act to weaken the surface relative humidity, are hypothesised to increase ET0 in the South China Region (1.25 mm/decade). Topographic map of China with 479 meteorological stations across main grain‐producing area (MGPA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The skill of global climate model (GCM) forecasts is usually indicated by the anomaly correlation between ensemble mean and observation. For GCM forecasts, anomaly correlation does not steadily improve with decreasing lead time but oscillates instead. This paper aims to address the oscillation and illustrate the relationship between anomaly correlation and lead time. We formulate the anomaly correlation of forecasts at different initialization times as a vector and pool anomaly correlation vectors across grid cells in the analysis. We propose two patterns to characterize the spatial and temporal variation of anomaly correlation in the three‐dimensional space of latitude, longitude, and initialization time. The first pattern suggests that the anomaly correlation at different initialization times is at a similar level. The second pattern indicates that the anomaly correlation linearly increases with decreasing lead time. These two patterns are tested using the eigenvectors through principal component analysis. They are first illustrated using the GFDL‐CM2p1‐aer04 forecasts of summer precipitation in China. They are further verified by another nine sets of North‐American Multi‐Model Ensemble (NMME) forecasts. Overall, the first pattern explains more variation than the second pattern. In total, the two patterns explain 42% of the variation of anomaly correlation for CanCM3, 59% for CanCM4, 42% for COLA‐RSMAS‐CCSM3), 45% for COLA‐RSMAS‐CCSM4, 59% for GFDL‐CM2p1, 67% for GFDL‐CM2p1‐aer04, 65% for GFDL‐CM2p5‐FLOR‐A06, 57% for GFDL‐CM2p5‐FLOR‐B01, 48% for NCAR‐CESM1, and 60% for NCEP‐CFSv2. The percentage of explained variation demonstrates the effectiveness of the two patterns as exploratory tools to analyze the predictive performance of GCM forecasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This research analyses the long-term changes in the precipitation structure over the karst area of southwest China, as recorded by 153 national meteorological stations from 1959 to 2009. Study results are as follows: (1) The karst area of southwest China is categorized into six similar precipitation clusters, including two low-rainfall clusters located in the western and northern areas and four high-rainfall clusters distributed in the eastern and southern areas. (2) Although the decreasing trend of annual total precipitation is weak, autumn precipitation decreases significantly over the whole study area. The autumn total precipitation decreases significantly at 51% of the stations because the autumn wind and water vapor flux of the study area gradually decreased, and the autumn low-latitude and mid-latitude sea surface temperature ( SST) of East Asia continues to rise and gradually leads to positive sea anomalies. (3) The number of rainy days decreases at 85.6% of the stations, especially in the central and southeastern regions of the area. Consequently, almost 53% of the total stations are characterized by an increasing precipitation intensity. (4) The occurrence time of the accumulated percentage precipitation in the western mountain areas is usually later than that in the eastern coastal areas, and the occurrence date of accumulated percentage precipitation ( DAP) seems to occur increasingly earlier over the whole study area. (5) Light rain occurs more frequently (76% of annual total rainy days) and contributes 25% to annual total precipitation, whereas although heavy rains such as storms occur less frequently at 3% of annual total rainy days, it contributes almost 19% to annual total precipitation. (6) The occurrence and contribution of wet periods ( WPs) decrease with an increase in their duration. WPs with short durations (e.g. 1-4 days) tend to be the predominant precipitation events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]