Irrigation increases resilience and productivity relative to rain-fed production by reducing drought and heat stress on crop yields and by lowering ET demand by cooling canopy temperatures . Large-scale irrigation also affects local and regional climates . While cooling effects, including reduction of the extreme heat due to irrigation, have been observed , increases in humid heat extremes because of irrigation with potentially detrimental health outcomes have also been reported . For the heavily irrigated North China Plain, a night-time temperature increase overcompensated daytime cooling effects, leading to an overall warming effect . In addition, modification of rainfall patterns has been linked to irrigation . For example, increases in extreme rainfall in central India in recent decades has been linked to the intensification of irrigated paddy cultivation in northwest India .
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report