Dataset of temperature and precipitation over the major Belt and Road Initiative regions under different temperature rise scenarios

ABSTRACT Changes in temperature and precipitation have a profound effect on the ecological environment and socioeconomic systems. In this study, we focus on the major Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) regions and develop a dataset of temperature and precipitation at global temperature rise targets of 1.5°C, 2°C, and 3°C above pre-industrial levels under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 emission scenario using 4 downscaled global model datasets data at a fine spatial resolution of 0.0449147848° (~5 km) globally from EnviDat. The temperature variables include the daily maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin) and average (Tmp) surface air temperatures, and the diurnal temperature range (DTR). We first evaluate the performance of the downscaled model data using CRU-observed gridded data for the historical period 1986–2005. The results indicate that the downscaled model data can generally reproduce the pattern characteristics of temperature and precipitation variations well over the major BRI regions for 1986–2005. Furthermore, we project temperature and precipitation variations over the major BRI regions at global temperature rise targets of 1.5°C, 2°C, and 3°C under the RCP8.5 emission scenario based on the dataset by adopting the multiple-model ensemble mean. Our dataset contributes to understanding detailed the characteristics of climate change over the major BRI regions, and provides data fundamental for adopting appropriate strategies and options to reduce or avoid disadvantaged consequences associated with climate change over the major BRI regions. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.01850.