Article Open access Jie Hsu , Chao-An Chen , Chia-Wei Lan , Chun-Lien Chiang , Chun-Hung Li & Min-Hui Lo npj Climate and Atmospheric Science 8 , Article number: 5 (2025) Cite this article Metrics Abstract Land use changes (LUC) and global warming (GW) significantly impact the Maritime Continent’s (MC) hydro-climate, but their effects on extreme precipitation events are underexplored. This study investigates the impacts of LUC and GW on wet and dry extremes in the MC using Community Earth System Model (CESM)simulations, analyzing 55 years for LUC and 200 years for GW. We find that LUC-induced deforestation increases surface warming, enhancing atmospheric instability and favoring local convection, leading to more frequent heavy precipitation. Meanwhile, GW amplifies the atmosphere’s water-holding capacity, further intensifying wet extremes. Our findings reveal a “wet-get-wetter, dry-get-drier” pattern driven by different mechanisms: dynamic processes primarily influence wet extremes under LUC, while changes in evapotranspiration control dry extremes. In contrast, under GW, wet extremes are driven by dynamic processes, while dry extremes are influenced by reduced moisture availability and weakened atmospheric circulation. This highlights the need for land management to address rising extreme risks. Introduction Anthropogenic activities, such as land use changes (LUC) and global warming (GW), are critical drivers of climate change, pushing Earth’s systems to tipping points and causing irreversible changes in regional climates 1 , 2 , 3 . Activities like urbanization, agriculture, and deforestation profoundly alter environmental dynamics, affecting precipitation patterns and increasing the frequency of extreme events 4 , 5 , 6 . Studies show that CO₂-driven GW impacts extreme precipitation through enhanced atmospheric moisture and convective activity, increasing heavy rainfall events 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 . Therefore, LUC and GW are the primary forces driving local and large-scale climate changes. While the individual impacts of LUC and […]