Holocene Hydroclimatic Variations in the Asian Drylands: Current Understanding and Future Perspectives

0 INTRODUCTION The intensification of global warming is generating increasing risks to human society and sustainable development, which are of growing concern to the international scientific community and policymakers (Sun, 2023). The ecosystems of the Asian drylands are fragile and highly sensitive to global changes; moreover, while these drylands are the most important areas of oasis agriculture on Earth, their water resources are being adversely impacted by ongoing climate change (Zhang et al., 2023).