Zhang et al. (2026) Large‐Scale Extreme Precipitation Events Increasingly Drive River Discharge Extremes in the Yangtze River Basin

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: International Journal of Climatology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-20
• Authors: Yihui Zhang, Xiaomang Liu, Kang Liang, Kaiwen Wang, Changming Liu, Zhengjie Yin
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.70563

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study analyzes the evolution of extreme precipitation events (EPEs) of varying spatial scales in the Yangtze River Basin from 1960 to 2024, finding that larger-scale events are increasing in frequency and intensity, thereby driving higher hydrological flood risks.

Objective

• To investigate whether EPEs of different spatial extents have evolved differently over time and to quantify how these changes affect hydrological extremes within the Yangtze River Basin.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Yangtze River Basin.
• Temporal Scale: 1960–2024.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Precipitation–temperature scaling analysis.
• Data sources: Spatiotemporal precipitation and river discharge data (specific datasets not named in the abstract).

Main Results

• Frequency Trends: Small-scale EPEs are the most numerous but have seen a significant decline in relative frequency; conversely, medium- and large-scale EPEs have become more frequent.
• Intensity and Impact: Large-scale EPEs have increased in intensity. Despite representing only 1.1% of all events, they dominate the annual maximum discharge across 23.3% of river reaches.
• Hydrological Risk: The contribution of large-scale EPEs to discharge extremes has increased over the study period.
• Climate Sensitivity: Precipitation–temperature scaling indicates that the intensity of EPEs becomes more sensitive to warming as the spatial extent of the event increases.

Contributions

• The research establishes the spatial extent of EPEs as a critical dimension for understanding precipitation extremes, shifting the focus from simple intensity to the scale of the event to better assess basin-wide flood risks under climate warming.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Zhang2026LargeScale,
  author = {Zhang, Yihui and Liu, Xiaomang and Liang, Kang and Wang, Kaiwen and Liu, Changming and Yin, Zhengjie},
  title = {Large‐Scale Extreme Precipitation Events Increasingly Drive River Discharge Extremes in the Yangtze River Basin},
  journal = {International Journal of Climatology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/joc.70563},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70563}
}