Severe Drought Events as Revealed in the Climate Records of China and Their Temperature Situations over the Last 1000 Years

The total 15 severe droughts are discovered with the aid of the "Retrieval System of Chinese Historical Climate Records" for the last 1000 years. The droughts are extensive to envelope more than 4 provinces and persistent to cover 3 yr or more, and their severity is equivalent to or in excess of that in the 1930s in China. According to the documentary records and restorations it can be inferred that most droughts are more severe than those in the last 50 years. The 15 droughts may either occur warm or in a cold climate background, with 11 of the 15 cases in the cold phase. This indicates the difference in climate correspondence between China and northern America, showing the severity of the events in China to be in a cold instead of a warm climate situation. That is likely to relate to the monsoon climate in eastern Asia.