Recently, there has been flooding in the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China, attracting attention. On August 27th, the topic surged to the top of the trending list on Weibo.
Authorities attribute the flooding in the Taklamakan Desert to the impact of “snowmelt and heavy rainfall.” Several videos show roads submerged in water, with tourists driving their vehicles like boats, causing many vehicles to stall.
These videos have sparked discussions among netizens. One netizen commented, “It’s unbelievable that the Taklamakan Desert is flooding! The weather is so strange, there has been no rain on the coast for almost a month.” Another said, “The places where it should rain don’t, but where it shouldn’t, it pours.” Someone else expressed wonder, “Where did all this water come from? Experts say it’s from the melting snow on the mountains, but how much snow is there on those mountains?”
In recent years, the Taklamakan Desert has experienced flooding three times.
In July 2021, the Yuki area of the China Petrochemical Corporation’s Northwest Oilfield, located in the Taklamakan Desert, was hit by flooding, with an inundated area exceeding 300 square kilometers, and roads in the oil field were washed out at multiple locations.
In the summer of 2022, the main stream of the Tarim River and its tributaries, including the Yarkand River, Aksu River, and Weigan River, saw flooding exceeding the warning levels. The flood in the main stream of the Tarim River lasted for 80 days, finally ending on September 22nd.