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Posted on Jul 16th, 2025
Taihua went on a field trip to the Yellow and Yangtze River Source Regions, Tibetan Plateau
Dr. Taihua Wang went on a field trip to the Yellow and Yangtze River Source Regions, Tibetan Plateau during Jul 6th-Jul 13th, 2022. The field trip was organized as part of the National Key Research and Development Program of China "Evolution of cryospheric elements and their impact on water resources of the Yangtze River and Yellow River and adaptation strategies" (Grant No. 2023YFC3206300).
Posted on May 23rd, 2025
New paper published in Geophysical Research Letters
Our new paper "Permafrost degradation and concomitant hydrological changes dominated by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau" has been published recently in Geophysical Research Letters. Previous studies have reported severe permafrost degradation and its profound impacts on hydrological processes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), yet the responses of permafrost hydrology to different climate forcings remain unclear. Here we provide the first quantitative attribution analysis to examine the responses of permafrost hydrology to anthropogenic and natural forcings in the source region of the Yellow River, northeastern TP. Our results confidently attribute frozen ground degradation to anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG), while aerosols exhibit a slight mitigating effect. GHG emissions also drive concomitant hydrological changes, including increased subsurface runoff and winter runoff ratio. They also reduce streamflow seasonality, particularly in regions where permafrost degrades severely. More details can be found via https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113679.
Posted on Jan 15th, 2025
New paper out in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Our new paper "Substantial increases in compound climate extremes and associated socio-economic exposure across China under future climate change" has been published recently in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science. Under climate change, China faces intensifying compound extreme events with serious socio-economic ramifications, yet their future variations remain poorly understood. This study estimates historical hotspots and future changes of two typical compound events, i.e., sequential heatwave and precipitation (SHP) and concurrent drought and heatwave (CDH) across China, leveraging a bivariate bias correction method to adjust projections from global climate models. Results show substantial future increases in frequency, duration, and magnitude for both events, with the durations projected to double nationwide. The increases are more evident under higher emission scenarios, and could be largely underestimated if neglecting variable dependence during bias correction process. The projected changes will escalate socio-economic exposure across China’s major urban clusters, among which Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao will face the highest risk. More details can be found via https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-00910-7.
Posted on Dec 16th, 2024
Taihua attended AGU24 conference and gave an oral presentation
Dr. Taihua Wang attended the 2024 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting in Washington D.C. and gave an oral presentation titled "Pervasive permafrost thaw affects water sustainability and water security across the Tibetan Plateau".
Posted on Jun 17th, 2024
New paper out in Water Resources Research
Our new paper "Quantifying the regulation capacity of the Three Gorges Reservoir on extreme hydrological events and its impact on flow regime in a changing climate" is out in Water Resources Research. The Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) is one of the world's largest hydropower projects and plays an important role in water resources management in the Yangtze River. In this study, we quatified the regulation capacity of the TGR on floods and droughts by combining the simulated results from a physically-based hydrological model (GBEHM) and a machine learning-based TGR operation model. The results indicate that the average flood peaks and total flooding days in the historical period (1961-2019) could have been reduced by 29.2% and 53.4% with the operation of TGR. Specifically, the flood peak in 1998 could have been reduced by 24.7% if the TGR was in operation. The relative declines in drought indicators including duration and intensity were generally less than 10%. Faced with more severe extreme hydrological events in the future, the TGR is still expected to alleviate floods and droughts, but cannot bring them down to historical levels. The impact of TGR operation on flow regime will also evolve in a changing climate, potentially altering the habitats of river ecosystems. More details can be found via https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036329.
Posted on Mar 26th, 2024
New paper out in Journal of Hydrology
Our new paper "Water-carbon-sediment synergies and trade-offs: Multi-faceted impacts of large-scale ecological restoration in the Middle Yellow River Basin" is out in Journal of Hydrology. In this study, we evaluated the impacts of ecological restoration programs on vegetation, water resources and sediment load in the Middle Yellow River Basin (close to the boundary of China's Loess Plateau) over the past four decades by combining a dynamic vegetation model Biome-BGC and a physically-based hydrological model with explicit restoration measures parameterization. It was found that restoration measures led to synergies between carbon sequestration and sediment settlement and enhanced water use efficiency compared to those under natural conditions. However, the carbon benefits and sediment load reductions came at the cost of water yield reduction. More details can be found via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131099.
Posted on Oct 19th, 2023
New paper out in Earth's Future
Our new paper "Pervasive Permafrost Thaw Exacerbates Future Risk of Water Shortage Across the Tibetan Plateau" is out in Earth's Future. In this study, we quantify the permafrost change on the Tibetan Plateau over 1980–2100 and evaluate its hydrological impacts using a physically-based cryospheric-hydrological model at a high spatial resolution. The results show that the near-surface permafrost area and the total ground ice storage are projected to decrease by 86.4% and 61.6% during 2020–2100 under a high-emission scenario, respectively. The diminished water supply from ground ice melt and enhanced subsurface storage capacity could jointly reduce annual runoff and lead to exacerbated regional water shortage when facing future droughts. Our findings highlight the importance to get prepared for the additional water shortage risks caused by pervasive permafrost thaw in future water resources management across the Tibetan Plateau. More details can be found via https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003463.
Posted on Sep 5th, 2023
New paper out in Environmental Research Letters
Our new paper "Divergent responses of permafrost degradation to precipitation increases at different seasons on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on modeling approach" is out in Environmental Research Letters. In this study, a distributed process-based model was applied to quantify the impacts of increased precipitation on permafrost thermal regimes in a warming climate by employing model experiments in the source region of Yellow River (SRYR). The results show that the active layer thickening in the SRYR was primarily driven by climate warming, while the increased annual precipitation played a relatively limited role and just slightly mitigated active layer thickening. Intriguingly, increased precipitation in the cold and warm seasons exerted opposite effects on permafrost across the SRYR. The increased precipitation in the cold season mainly promoted ALT increases due to enhanced insulation effect of snow cover, while the increased precipitation in the warm season mitigated ALT increases due to enhanced evaporative cooling. More details can be found via https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf05c.
Posted on Jun 20th, 2023
New paper out in Science Bulletin
Our new paper "Unsustainable water supply from thawing permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau in a changing climate" is out in Science Bulletin. In this study, we provide a comprehensive evaluation of the meltwater supply from thawing permafrost across the entire Tibetan Plateau. The results show that although received less attention, the ground ice storage below the ground surface could be more vulnerable to climate warming than the glacier ice storage above the ground surface. And in a warming climate, the meltwater runoff from thawing permafrost is unsustainable, which might threaten the fragile alpine ecosystems that highly depend on cryospheric meltwater. More details can be found via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2023.04.037. The story behind the paper can be found in EurekAlert!, Phys.org, AZoCleantech and Mirage News.
Posted on May 24th, 2023
Taihua shared views on the 2023 Forum on the Development of Xizang, China
Dr. Taihua Wang attended the 2023 Forum on the Development of Xizang, China in Beijing, China and shared his own research experiences in the Sub-Forum 4: Younger Generation Contributing to the Construction of Ecological Civilization on Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.
Posted on May 4th, 2023
Taihua attended EGU23 conference and gave an oral presentation
Dr. Taihua Wang attended the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2023 in Vienna, Austria and gave an oral presentation titled "Hydrological implications of pervasive permafrost thaw across the Tibetan Plateau".
Posted on Nov 12th, 2022
New paper out in Journal of Hydrology
Our new paper "Future changes in annual runoff and hydroclimatic extremes in the upper Yangtze River Basin" is out in Journal of Hydrology. In this study, we examine the hydrological changes in the upper Yangtze River Basin (UYRB) during the historical and future period using a physically-based hydrological model. The results show that the annual runoff volume in the UYRB will further decrease in the future. The future agricultural drought exacerbation will be more severe than meteorological droughts. The most extreme events in the historical period would become the new normal in the future. And there will be more frequent drought-pluvial seesaws at the major hydrological stations, posing challenges for operation of the large reservoirs in the UYRB, including the Three Gorges Dam. More details can be found via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128738.
Posted on Oct 1st, 2022
New paper out in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
Our new paper "Possible negative effects of earlier thaw onset and longer thaw duration on vegetation greenness over the Tibetan Plateau" is out in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. We adopted the latest datasets for vegetation, climate and soil freeze-thaw in the past two decades to explore the possible impacts of changes in soil freeze-thaw on vegetation greenness and phenology on the Tibetan Plateau. The results show that in the relatively warm regions of the Tibetan Plateau, earlier thaw onset and longer thaw duration could possibly exacerbate the growing season water stress and limit vegetation growth. The paper can be found via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2022.109192. The relevant dataset for vegetation greenness and phenology during 2001-2020 in the Tibetan Plateau can be accessed via https://t.co/kFZzDS51Wh.
Posted on Aug 10th, 2022
Taihua went on a field trip to the Three-River Source Region, Tibetan Plateau
Dr. Taihua Wang went on a field trip to the Three-River Source Region (Sanjiangyuan region), Tibetan Plateau during Aug 5th-Aug 9th, 2022. The field trip was organized by the Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute as part of the Major Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Posted on Jul 22nd, 2022
Taihua gave a talk at CAFOE 2022 and was awarded “Outstanding Young Scholars at the Frontiers of Engineering in China” by Chinese Academy of Engineering
Dr. Taihua Wang gave a talk titled "Implications of Permafrost Thawing on Water Sustainability in the Tibetan Plateau" in the session "Water Sustainability", and was awarded the "Outstanding Young Scholars at the Frontiers of Engineering in China" by the Chinese Academy of Engineering.