The characteristics of compound climate extremes from the perspective of compound droughts and heatwaves over the Huai River Basin of China from 1961 to 2017

Abstract

Compound droughts and heatwaves have caused serious impacts on human activities, social economy and ecological environment. Droughts are usually caused by precipitation shortage. Recent studies found that with the continuous global warming, the impact of temperature rise on the compound events of drought and heatwave is further expanding, and it is urgent to carry out research on the temporal and spatial characteristics of compound droughts and heatwaves. The present study examined changes in compound droughts and heatwaves in Huai River Basin (HRB) of China during 1961–2017. The result shows that both frequency and duration of compound droughts and heatwaves increased from 2003–2017. Compound events appeared more often in summer. The more frequent and longer duration of compound droughts and heatwaves occurred in the north of HRB. The results highlight the increased trend of compound droughts and heatwaves and call for improved efforts on assessing the impact of compound extremes.