Central Asia occupies the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, and more than 93% of the total area is dry land. Under global warming, the ecosystems in Central Asia are sensitive and susceptible to climate change.

An in-depth understanding of the characteristics and driving factors of climate change in Central Asia is important for improving ecosystem management and promoting sustainable development in this region. 

The Sino-German Joint Research Center for the Management of Ecosystems and Environmental Changes in Arid Lands was established by scientists from China and Germany in 2013. This Center mainly focuses on the environmental change in arid lands, global climate change and the impacts of human activities. 

Institutes involved include Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Institute of Atmospheric Physics of CAS, Technical University Munich, Technical University of Berlin, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt.

Their findings showed that at the temporal scales, the annual mean temperature in Central Asia exhibited an increasing trend from the 1960s to the 2000s, with an average rate of 0.30°C/10a. This rate is even higher for the period from the 1980s to the 2000s (at about 0.39°C/10a), especially in the spring season.

The Central Asia has experienced a faster temperature rise than the global average in the past six decades. At the spatial scales, a large increase in temperature occurred mainly in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the southwestern parts of Kazakhstan.

The data also showed that the HadCM3, MIROC5, MPI-ESM-LR, MPI-ESM-P, CMCC-CM, and CMCC-CMS models performed best in simulating precipitation in Central Asia. The major driving factors for climate change in Central Asia are greenhouse gas emissions and global atmospheric circulations. 

The results provide support for decision-making processes in climate models, the improvement of basic weather and climate observations, as well as the construction of measurement infrastructure to improve the quality and accuracy of future studies in Central Asia. 

The study was published in Science Bulletin.