Comparison of regional climate model and statistical downscaling simulations of different winter precipitation change scenarios over Romania

Summary Regional climate model and statistical downscaling procedures are used to generate winter precipitation changes over Romania for the period 2071–2100 (compared to 1961–1990), under the IPCC A2 and B2 emission scenarios. For this purpose, the ICTP regional climate model RegCM is nested within the Hadley Centre global atmospheric model HadAM3H. The statistical downscaling method is based on the use of canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to construct climate change scenarios for winter precipitation over Romania from two predictors, sea level pressure and specific humidity (either used individually or together). A technique to select the most skillful model separately for each station is proposed to optimise the statistical downscaling signal. Climate fields from the A2 and B2 scenario simulations with the HadAM3H and RegCM models are used as input to the statistical downscaling model. First, the capability of the climate models to reproduce the observed link between winter precipitation over Romania and atmospheric circulation at the European scale is analysed, showing that the RegCM is more accurate than HadAM3H in the simulation of Romanian precipitation variability and its connection with large-scale circulations. Both models overestimate winter precipitation in the eastern regions of Romania due to an overestimation of the intensity and frequency of cyclonic systems over Europe. Climate changes derived directly from the RegCM and HadAM3H show an increase of precipitation during the 2071–2100 period compared to 1961–1990, especially over northwest and northeast Romania. Similar climate change patterns are obtained through the statistical downscaling method when the technique of optimum model selected separately for each station is used. This adds confidence to the simulated climate change signal over this region. The uncertainty of results is higher for the eastern and southeastern regions of Romania due to the lower HadAM3H and RegCM performance in simulating winter precipitation variability there as well as the reduced skill of the statistical downscaling model.     

A comparison of downscaling techniques in the projection of local climate change and wheat yields

This study aims to evaluate the performance of two mainstream downscaling techniques: statistical and dynamical downscaling and to compare the differences in their projection of future climate change and the resultant impact on wheat crop yields for three locations across New South Wales, Australia. Bureau of Meteorology statistically- and CSIRO dynamically-downscaled climate, derived or driven by the CSIRO Mk 3.5 coupled general circulation model, were firstly evaluated against observed climate data for the period 1980–1999. Future climate projections derived from the two downscaling approaches for the period centred on 2055 were then compared. A stochastic weather generator, LARS-WG, was used in this study to derive monthly climate changes and to construct climate change scenarios. The Agricultural Production System sIMulator-Wheat model was then combined with the constructed climate change scenarios to quantify the impact of climate change on wheat grain yield. Statistical results show that (1) in terms of reproducing the past climate, statistical downscaling performed better over dynamical downscaling in most of the cases including climate variables, their mean, variance and distribution, and study locations, (2) there is significant difference between the two downscaling techniques in projected future climate change except the mean value of rainfall across the three locations for most of the months; and (3) there is significant difference in projected wheat grain yields between the two downscaling techniques at two of the three locations.     

Coupled ocean-atmosphere surface variability and its climate impacts in the tropical Atlantic region

 This study examines time evolution and statistical relationships involving the two leading ocean-atmosphere coupled modes of variability in the tropical Atlantic and some climate anomalies over the tropical 120 °W–60 °W region using selected historical files (75-y near global SSTs and precipitation over land), more recent observed data (30-y SST and pseudo wind stress in the tropical Atlantic) and reanalyses from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis System on the period 1968–1997: surface air temperature, sea level pressure, moist static energy content at 850 hPa, precipitable water and precipitation. The first coupled mode detected through singular value decomposition of the SST and pseudo wind-stress data over the tropical Atlantic (30 °N–20 °S) expresses a modulation in the thermal transequatorial gradient of SST anomalies conducted by one month leading wind-stress anomalies mainly in the tropical north Atlantic during northern winter and fall. It features a slight dipole structure in the meridional plane. Its time variability is dominated by a quasi-decadal signal well observed in the last 20–30 ys and, when projected over longer-term SST data, in the 1920s and 1930s but with shorter periods. The second coupled mode is more confined to the south-equatorial tropical Atlantic in the northern summer and explains considerably less wind-stress/SST cross-covariance. Its time series features an interannual variability dominated by shorter frequencies with increased variance in the 1960s and 1970s before 1977. Correlations between these modes and the ENSO-like Nino3 index lead to decreasing amplitude of thermal anomalies in the tropical Atlantic during warm episodes in the Pacific. This could explain the nonstationarity of meridional anomaly gradients on seasonal and interannual time scales. Overall the relationships between the oceanic component of the coupled modes and the climate anomaly patterns denote thermodynamical processes at the ocean/atmosphere interface that create anomaly gradients in the meridional plane in a way which tends to alter the north–south movement of the seasonal cycle. This appears to be consistent with the intrinsic non-dipole character of the tropical Atlantic surface variability at the interannual time step and over the recent period, but produces abnormal amplitude and/or delayed excursions of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Connections with continental rainfall are approached through three (NCEP/NCAR and observed) rainfall indexes over the Nordeste region in Brazil, and the Guinea and Sahel zones in West Africa. These indices appear to be significantly linked to the SST component of the coupled modes only when the two Atlantic modes+the ENSO-like Nino3 index are taken into account in the regressions. This suggests that thermal forcing of continental rainfall is particularly sensitive to the linear combinations of some basic SST patterns, in particular to those that create meridional thermal gradients. The first mode in the Atlantic is associated with transequatorial pressure, moist static energy and precipitable water anomaly patterns which can explain abnormal location of the ITCZ particularly in northern winter, and hence rainfall variations in Nordeste. The second mode is more associated with in-phase variations of the same variables near the southern edge of the ITCZ, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea during the northern spring and winter. It is primarily linked to the amplitude and annual phase of the ITCZ excursions and thus to rainfall variations in Guinea. Connections with Sahel rainfall are less clear due to the difficulty for the model to correctly capture interannual variability over that region but the second Atlantic mode and the ENSO-like Pacific variability are clearly involved in the Sahel climate interannual fluctuations: anomalous dry (wet) situations tend to occur when warmer (cooler) waters are present in the eastern Pacific and the gulf of Guinea in northern summer which contribute to create a northward (southward) transequatorial anomaly gradient in sea level pressure over West Africa. Received: 14 April 1998 / Accepted: 24 December 1998     

一种基于全球动力模式和SMART原理结合的统计降尺度区域季节气候预测方法

针对江苏夏季旱涝和高温热浪等异常气候的预测难题，以江苏夏季站点降水和气温为预测目标，建立了一种基于全球动力模式BCC_CSM1.1（m）和最优可预测气候模态和异常相对倾向（SMART）原理结合的统计降尺度季节气候预测方法。利用历史观测资料和SVD方法提取决定中国夏季降水异常相对倾向的同期热带地区向外长波辐射（Outgoing Longwave Radiation，OLR）和北半球中高纬500 hPa位势高度场异常相对倾向的最优可预测气候模态，并利用逐步回归法构建其与同期江苏站点降水和气温异常相对倾向同期关系的统计降尺度模型；将动力模式对最优可预测气候模态的预测带入统计降尺度模型，实现对区域降水和气温异常相对倾向的预测；最后通过引入观测的近期背景异常实现对降尺度的降水和气温总距平的预测。通过对1991—2019年江苏夏季降水和气温的回报检验表明，本文建立的统计降尺度模型效果较BCC_CSM1.1（m）动力模式的直接预测效果有显著提高，为区域精细化季节气候预测提供了一种有效的手段。     

西南地区可降水量时空分布和变化特征

利用NCEP 1980-2009年可降水量的逐月再分析资料,分析了30年来西南地区可降水量的时空分布特征和变化趋势.结果表明：受地形等地理环境和气候的影响,西南地区年、季节可降水量分布均有显著的地区性差异,东南多,西北少;可降水量的季节变化明显,夏季远大于冬季,秋季略高于春季;可降水量的年内分配不均,7月最大,8月次之,1月最少;30年来,西南地区年可降水量呈波动变化,略有增加,偏多和偏少年交替出现,春季和冬季可降水量呈线性增多.西南地区可降水量空间分布既有整体一致型,也存在反向型.     

A comparative synoptic climatology of cool-season rainfall in major grain-growing regions of southern Australia

Two distinct synoptic weather systems, cut-off lows and fronts, deliver most of the cool-season rainfall to the cropping regions of southern Australia. A comparative synoptic climatology of daily rainfall events over approximately five decades reveals both spatial and temporal variations of the dominant synoptic types. The rainfall characteristics and associated large-scale drivers differ between the two synoptic types. Understanding regional rainfall depends on understanding these differences. Cut-off lows contribute one half of growing season rainfall in southeast Australia, while frontal systems associated with Southern Ocean depressions contribute about a third. The proportions are reversed in the Central Wheat Belt (CWB) of Western Australia where Southern Ocean fronts are the dominant source of growing season rainfall. In the southern island state of Tasmania, topography strongly influences the outcome with cut-off lows contributing about half the rainfall near the east coast and fronts dominating a short distance to the west. Cut-off lows generally contribute their highest proportion of rainfall in the austral autumn and spring while frontal rainfall is at its maximum in late winter. Cut-off low rainfall contributes more strongly in percentage terms to the recent decline in rainfall. The distribution of synoptic types is explained by the dominant long-wave structure in the winter half of the year. The major trough near Western Australia favours frontogenesis to the southwest of the CWB but fronts moving out of the region encounter a persistent meridional ridge in the Tasman Sea where there is a high frequency of blocking events.     

Impacts of recent climate change on wheat production systems in Western Australia

The wheatbelt of Western Australia shows a distinct Mediterranean climate with most of the rainfall occurring in the winter months. The main factor limiting plant production in this region is rainfall. Due to clearing of native vegetation, dryland salinity is a major problem in south-west Australia. Since the mid 1970s the region has experienced a significant decrease in winter rainfall. Across nine sites, growing season rainfall (May to October) decreased by an average of 11% and the sum of rainfall in June and July (June + July) decreased by 20%. We used the ASPIM-Nwheat model in combination with historic climate data to study the impact of recent climate change on the hydrology and production of wheat based farming systems by comparing results for before and after 1975. Despite the large decline in rainfall, simulated yields based on the actual weather data did not fall. At the same time, simulated drainage decreased by up to 95% which will significantly reduce the spread of dryland salinity. These results were due to the rainfall changes mainly occurring in June and July, a period when rainfall often exceeds crop demand and large amounts of water are usually lost by deep drainage. The findings will have significant implications for estimates of future climate change impacts in this region with changes in rainfall causing non-proportional impacts on production and hydrological aspects, such as deep drainage and waterlogging, where proportionality is often presumed.     

South Asian summer monsoon precipitation variability: Coupled climate model simulations and projections under IPCC AR4

Summary South Asian summer monsoon precipitation and its variability are examined from the outputs of the coupled climate models assessed as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment. Out of the 22 models examined, 19 are able to capture the maximum rainfall during the summer monsoon period (June through September) with varying amplitude. While two models are unable to reproduce the annual cycle well, one model is unable to simulate the summer monsoon season. The simulated inter-annual variability from the 19 models is examined with respect to the mean precipitation, coefficient of variation, long-term trends and the biennial tendency. The model simulated mean precipitation varies from 500 mm to 900 mm and coefficient of variation from 3 to 13%. While seven models exhibit long-term trends, eight are able to simulate the biennial nature of the monsoon rainfall. Six models, which generate the most realistic 20th century monsoon climate over south Asia, are selected to examine future projections under the doubling CO₂ scenario. Projections reveal a significant increase in mean monsoon precipitation of 8% and a possible extension of the monsoon period based on the multi-model ensemble technique. Extreme excess and deficient monsoons are projected to intensify. The projected increase in precipitation could be attributed to the projected intensification of the heat low over northwest India, the trough of low pressure over the Indo-Gangetic plains, and the land–ocean pressure gradient during the establishment phase of the monsoon. The intensification of these pressure systems could be attributed to the decline in winter/spring snowfall. Furthermore, a decrease of winter snowfall over western Eurasia is also projected along with an increase of winter snowfall over Siberia/eastern Eurasia. This projected dipole snow configuration during winter could imply changes in mid-latitude circulation conducive to subsequent summer monsoon precipitation activity. An increase in precipitable water of 12–16% is projected over major parts of India. A maximum increase of about 20–24% is found over the Arabian Peninsula, adjoining regions of Pakistan, northwest India and Nepal. Although the projected summer monsoon circulation appears to weaken, the projected anomalous flow over the Bay of Bengal (Arabian Sea) will support oceanic moisture convergence towards the southern parts of India and Sri Lanka (northwest India and adjoining regions). The ENSO-Monsoon relationship is also projected to weaken.     

Investigation of seasonal droughts and related large-scale atmospheric dynamics over the Potwar Plateau of Pakistan

As a result of climate change and unsustainable land use management in the recent past, droughts have become one of the most devastating climatic hazards whose impacts may prolong from months to years. This study presents analysis of droughts for two major cropping seasons, i.e., Kharif (May–September) and Rabi (October–April), over the Potwar Plateau of Pakistan. The analysis is performed using various datasets viz. observational, reanalysis, and Regional Climate Models (RCMs), for the past (1981–2010) and future (2011–2100) time periods. The following two methods for the identification of dry and wet years, also referred to as drought and wetness, are applied: (1) the percentile rank approach and (2) the drought indices, Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI). Future projections of droughts are investigated using RCM (RegCM4.4 and RCA4) outputs from CORDEX South Asia domain under two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Generally, the indices show non-significant decreasing trends of drought severity in the recent past for all cases; however, significant increasing trends are observed for annual (0.006) and Kharif (0.007) cases under RCP4.5 scenario. The analysis of large-scale atmospheric dynamics suggests the significant role of low-level geopotential height anomalies over Tibetan Plateau (northwest of Pakistan) during Kharif (Rabi) season in controlling drought occurrence by transporting moisture from the Bay of Bengal (Arabian Sea). Moreover, composites of vertically integrated moisture transport, moisture flux convergence/divergence, and precipitable water anomalies show their marked contribution in maintaining the drought/wetness conditions over the Potwar region.     

Projections of Extreme Rainfall in Hong Kong in the 21st Century

The possible changes in the frequency of extreme rainfall events in Hong Kong in the 21st century wereinvestigated by statistically downscaling 30 sets of the daily global climate model projections (involvinga combination of 12 models and 3 greenhouse gas emission scenarios,namely,A2,A1B,and B1) of theFourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.To cater for the intermittentand skewed character of the daily rainfall,multiple stepwise logistic regression and multiple stepwise linearregression were employed to develop the downscaling models for predicting rainfall occurrence and rainfallamount,respectively.Verification of the simulation of the 1971-2000 climate reveals that the models ingeneral have an acceptable skill in reproducing past statistics of extreme rainfall events in Hong Kong.Theprojection results suggest that,in the 21st century,the annual number of rain days in Hong Kong is expectedto decrease while the daily rainfall intensity will increase,concurrent with the expected increase in annualrainfall.Based on the multi-model scenario ensemble mean,the annual number of rain day is expected todrop from 104 days in 1980-1999 to about 77 days in 2090-2099.For extreme rainfall events,about 90% ofthe model-scenario combinations indicate an increase in the annual number of days with daily rainfall 100mm (R100) towards the end of the 21st century.The mean number of R100 is expected to increase from 3.5days in 1980-1999 to about 5.3 days in 2090-2099.The projected changes in other extreme rainfall indicesalso suggest that the rainfall in Hong Kong in the 21st century may also become more extreme with moreuneven distributions of wet and dry periods.While most of the model-emission scenarios in general projectconsistent trends in the change of rainfall extremes in the 21st century,there is a large divergence in theprojections among different model/emission scenarios.This reflects that there are still large uncertainties inmodel simulations of future extreme rainfall events.     

South Australian rainfall variability and climate extremes

Rainfall extremes over South Australia are connected with broad-scale atmospheric rearrangements associated with strong meridional sea surface temperature (SST) gradients in the eastern Indian Ocean. Thirty-seven years of winter radiosonde data is used to calculate a time series of precipitable water (PW) and convective available potential energy (CAPE) in the atmosphere. Principle component analysis on the parameters of CAPE and PW identify key modes of variability that are spatially and seasonally consistent with tropospheric processes over Australia. The correlation of the leading principle component of winter PW to winter rainfall anomalies reveal the spatial structure of the northwest cloudband and fronts that cross the southern half of the continent during winter. Similarly the second and third principle components, respectively, reveal the structures of the less frequent northern and continental cloudbands with remarkable consistency. 850 hPa-level wind analysis shows that during dry seasons, anomalous offshore flow over the northwest of Australia inhibits advection of moisture into the northwest, while enhanced subsidence from stronger anticyclonic circulation over the southern half of the continent reduces CAPE. This coincides with a southward shift of the subtropical ridge resulting in frontal systems passing well to the south of the continent, thus producing less frequent interaction with moist air advected from the tropics. Wet winters are the reverse, where a weaker meridional pressure gradient to the south of the continent allows rain-bearing fronts to reach lower latitudes. The analysis of SSTs in the Indian Ocean indicate that anomalous warm (cool) waters in the southeast Indian Ocean coincide with a southward (northward) shift in the subtropical ridge during dry (wet) seasons.     

Zonal winds and southeast Australian rainfall in global and regional climate models

Southeast Australia is a region of high rainfall variability related to major climate drivers, with a long-term declining trend in cool-season rainfall. Projections of future rainfall trends are uncertain in this region, despite projected southward shifts in the subtropical ridge and mid-latitude westerlies. This appears to be related to a poor representation of the spatial relationships between rainfall variability and zonal wind patterns across southeast Australia in the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project ensemble, particularly in the areas where weather systems embedded in the mid-latitude westerlies are the main source of cool-season rainfall. Downscaling with regional climate models offers improvements in the mean rainfall climatology, and shows some ability to correct for poor modelled relationships between rainfall and zonal winds along the east coast of Australia. However, it provides only minor improvements to these relationships in southeast Australia, despite the improved representation of topographic features. These results suggest that both global and regional climate models may fail to translate projected circulation changes into their likely rainfall impacts in southeast Australia.     

北京一次大暴雨的水汽收支和微物理过程数值分析

利用NCEP1°×1°再分析资料和常规气象观测资料,使用WRF模式对2012年7月21日发生在北京地区的一次特大暴雨天气过程进行数值模拟。在模拟结果的基础上,分析了此次暴雨过程的形势演变和水汽条件,并分别计算了暴雨发生过程中北京全市范围内的水汽输送、水汽收支、大气可降水量和空中各相态水物质的量值大小、空间分布情况及其相互转化关系。结果发现:这次降水主要受高空槽、低涡和地面切变线的影响。有东南、西南两条水汽输送通道,计算区域上空水汽收支变化与地面雨强的演变对应很好。中低层持续而强烈的水汽净输入,为暴雨的发生发展提供了很好的水汽条件。北京各站点大气可降水量普遍超过历史极值,反映了降水的极端性。降水发展不同阶段,云内微物理过程存在差异,降水量初期以暖雨为主,降雨量不大,之后冷雨过程增强,降水量迅速增大。     

Projected future changes in synoptic systems influencing southwest Western Australia

Rainfall in the southwest of Western Australia (SWWA) is sensitive to shifts in the hemispheric scale circulation due to its location at the northward extent of the influence of mid-latitude fronts. A step-drop in the 1970s to a new winter rainfall regime has caused great concern for water users in the region. The synoptic systems at the height of winter in the latter half of the 20th century over this region have been described in Hope et al. (Clim Dyn, 2006) using a self-organising map, and in this study the projected future shifts in those systems has been examined. Bounds are placed on the possible responses by examining a number of different models and, into the future, two scenarios at the upper (SRES A2) and lower (SRES B1) limits of plausible human induced emissions. Rainfall taken directly from the models captures the rainfall decline in the 1970s, and, although it is not as large as observed in any one model, all the models express a decline, which is a very strong result. Into the future the rainfall decline is dramatic. The scenario at the upper bound of emissions, where atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise strongly, shows a rainfall decline right through to the end of the century. The shift in synoptic systems for most models is to far fewer troughs and more high pressure systems across the region. One model exhibits a different signature, with a shift to more systems with a zonal structure. The fact that there is a rainfall decline shown by all models, yet the synoptic changes are different, highlights how sensitive SWWA rainfall is to the different responses of climate models to increasing greenhouse gases. In the B1 scenario, the concentrations rise only slowly in the second half of the century and the shift is still to drier conditions, but it is not as striking. These results show that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases lead to increasingly dry conditions in SWWA, and as the atmospheric concentrations rise, the synoptic response intensifies.     

A statistical model to downscale local daily temperature extremes from synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation patterns in the Australian region

 The study seeks to describe one method of deriving information about local daily temperature extremes from larger scale atmospheric flow patterns using statistical tools. This is considered to be one step towards downscaling coarsely gridded climate data from global climate models (GCMs) to finer spatial scales. Downscaling is necessary in order to bridge the spatial mismatch between GCMs and climate impact models which need information on spatial scales that the GCMs cannot provide. The method of statistical downscaling is based on physical interaction between atmospheric processes with different spatial scales, in this case between synoptic scale mean sea level pressure (MSLP) fields and local temperature extremes at several stations in southeast Australia. In this study it was found that most of the day-to-day spatial variability of the synoptic circulation over the Australian region can be captured by six principal components. Using the scores of these PCs as multivariate indicators of the circulation a substantial part of the local daily temperature variability could be explained. The inclusion of temperature persistence noticeably improved the performance of the statistical model. The model established and tested with observations is thought to be finally applied to GCM-simulated pressure fields in order to estimate pressure-related changes in local temperature extremes under altered CO₂ conditions. Received: 26 March 1996 / Accepted: 20 September 1996     

Quantitative risk assessment for future meteorological disasters

The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report stated that in many regions extreme climate events are becoming increasingly frequent and that this trend will continue. However, few quantitative studies have examined the damage to society or industry that may be caused by future meteorological disasters. This study quantitatively estimates the risk of future drought and winter disasters (dzud) in Mongolia leading to massive livestock loss by applying an empirical tree-based model to data derived from the basic local trend in projections of an Earth system model (a climate model coupled with ecosystem models) based on the Special Report on Emissions Scenario A2. The results indicate that drought is the dominant factor for high livestock mortality, and the frequency of meteorological disasters leading to high livestock mortality during 2010–2099 will be lower than that during 1940–2003, mainly because of a slight increase in the leaf area index (LAI, representing forage for livestock), which is caused by increased summer rainfall. The increased precipitation in summer is likely caused mainly by increased precipitable water due to higher air temperature, rather than changes in atmospheric circulation. By the end of the 21st century, however, LAI will drop in the southern most province of Mongolia, inducing severe livestock mortality. This will be caused by extremely high temperatures, which may continue to increase in degree and extent after 2100 if climate change continues.     

A comparison of three multi-site statistical downscaling models for daily rainfall in the North China Plain

Three statistical downscaling methods (conditional resampling statistical downscaling model: CR-SDSM, the generalised linear model for daily climate time series: GLIMCLIM, and the non-homogeneous hidden Markov model: NHMM) for multi-site daily rainfall were evaluated and compared in the North China Plain (NCP). The comparison focused on a range of statistics important for hydrological studies including rainfall amount, extreme rainfall, intra-annual variability, and spatial coherency. The results showed that no single model performed well over all statistics/timescales, suggesting that the user should chose appropriate methods after assessing their advantages and limitations when applying downscaling methods for particular purposes. Specifically, the CR-SDSM provided relatively robust results for annual/monthly statistics and extreme characteristics, but exhibited weakness for some daily statistics, such as daily rainfall amount, dry-spell length, and annual wet/dry days. GLIMCLIM performed well for annual dry/wet days, dry/wet spell length, and spatial coherency, but slightly overestimated the daily rainfall. Additionally, NHMM performed better for daily rainfall and annual wet/dry days, but slightly underestimated dry/wet spell length and overestimated the daily extremes. The results of this study could be applied when investigating climate change impact on hydrology and water availability for the NCP, which suffers from intense water shortages due to climate change and human activities in recent years.     

Agricultural drought in a future climate: results from 15 global climate models participating in the IPCC 4th assessment

This study examines the impact of greenhouse gas warming on soil moisture based on predictions of 15 global climate models by comparing the after-stabilization climate in the SRESA1b experiment with the pre-industrial control climate. The models are consistent in predicting summer dryness and winter wetness in only part of the northern middle and high latitudes. Slightly over half of the models predict year-round wetness in central Eurasia and/or year-round dryness in Siberia and mid-latitude Northeast Asia. One explanation is offered that relates such lack of seasonality to the carryover effect of soil moisture storage from season to season. In the tropics and subtropics, a decrease of soil moisture is the dominant response. The models are especially consistent in predicting drier soil over the southwest North America, Central America, the Mediterranean, Australia, and the South Africa in all seasons, and over much of the Amazon and West Africa in the June–July–August (JJA) season and the Asian monsoon region in the December–January–February (DJF) season. Since the only major areas of future wetness predicted with a high level of model consistency are part of the northern middle and high latitudes during the non-growing season, it is suggested that greenhouse gas warming will cause a worldwide agricultural drought. Over regions where there is considerable consistency among the analyzed models in predicting the sign of soil moisture changes, there is a wide range of magnitudes of the soil moisture response, indicating a high degree of model dependency in terrestrial hydrological sensitivity. A major part of the inter-model differences in the sensitivity of soil moisture response are attributable to differences in land surface parameterization.     

Future change of climate in South America in the late twenty-first century: intercomparison of scenarios from three regional climate models

Regional climate change projections for the last half of the twenty-first century have been produced for South America, as part of the CREAS (Cenarios REgionalizados de Clima Futuro da America do Sul) regional project. Three regional climate models RCMs (Eta CCS, RegCM3 and HadRM3P) were nested within the HadAM3P global model. The simulations cover a 30-year period representing present climate (1961–1990) and projections for the IPCC A2 high emission scenario for 2071–2100. The focus was on the changes in the mean circulation and surface variables, in particular, surface air temperature and precipitation. There is a consistent pattern of changes in circulation, rainfall and temperatures as depicted by the three models. The HadRM3P shows intensification and a more southward position of the subtropical Pacific high, while a pattern of intensification/weakening during summer/winter is projected by the Eta CCS/RegCM3. There is a tendency for a weakening of the subtropical westerly jet from the Eta CCS and HadRM3P, consistent with other studies. There are indications that regions such of Northeast Brazil and central-eastern and southern Amazonia may experience rainfall deficiency in the future, while the Northwest coast of Peru-Ecuador and northern Argentina may experience rainfall excesses in a warmer future, and these changes may vary with the seasons. The three models show warming in the A2 scenario stronger in the tropical region, especially in the 5°N–15°S band, both in summer and especially in winter, reaching up to 6–8°C warmer than in the present. In southern South America, the warming in summer varies between 2 and 4°C and in winter between 3 and 5°C in the same region from the 3 models. These changes are consistent with changes in low level circulation from the models, and they are comparable with changes in rainfall and temperature extremes reported elsewhere. In summary, some aspects of projected future climate change are quite robust across this set of model runs for some regions, as the Northwest coast of Peru-Ecuador, northern Argentina, Eastern Amazonia and Northeast Brazil, whereas for other regions they are less robust as in Pantanal region of West Central and southeastern Brazil.     

Differences and sensitivities in potential hydrologic impact of climate change to regional-scale Athabasca and Fraser River basins of the leeward and windward sides of the Canadian Rocky Mountains respectively

Sensitivities to the potential impact of Climate Change on the water resources of the Athabasca River Basin (ARB) and Fraser River Basin (FRB) were investigated. The Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) of IPCC projected by seven general circulation models (GCM), namely, Japan’s CCSRNIES, Canada’s CGCM2, Australia’s CSIROMk2b, Germany’s ECHAM4, the USA’s GFDLR30, the UK’s HadCM3, and the USA’s NCARPCM, driven under four SRES climate scenarios (A1FI, A2, B1, and B2) over three 30-year time periods (2010–2039, 2040–2069, 2070–2100) were used in these studies. The change fields over these three 30-year time periods are assessed with respect to the 1961–1990, 30-year climate normal and based on the 1961–1990 European Community Mid-Weather Forecast (ECMWF) re-analysis data (ERA-40), which were adjusted with respect to the higher resolution GEM forecast archive of Environment Canada, and used to drive the Modified ISBA (MISBA) of Kerkhoven and Gan (Adv Water Resour 29(6):808–826, 2006). In the ARB, the shortened snowfall season and increased sublimation together lead to a decline in the spring snowpack, and mean annual flows are expected to decline with the runoff coefficient dropping by about 8% per °C rise in temperature. Although the wettest scenarios predict mild increases in annual runoff in the first half of the century, all GCM and emission combinations predict large declines by the end of the twenty-first century with an average change in the annual runoff, mean maximum annual flow and mean minimum annual flow of −21%, −4.4%, and −41%, respectively. The climate scenarios in the FRB present a less clear picture of streamflows in the twenty-first century. All 18 GCM projections suggest mean annual flows in the FRB should change by ±10% with eight projections suggesting increases and 10 projecting decreases in the mean annual flow. This stark contrast with the ARB results is due to the FRB’s much milder climate. Therefore under SRES scenarios, much of the FRB is projected to become warmer than 0°C for most of the calendar year, resulting in a decline in FRB’s characteristic snow fed annual hydrograph response, which also results in a large decline in the average maximum flow rate. Generalized equations relating mean annual runoff, mean annual minimum flows, and mean annual maximum flows to changes in rainfall, snowfall, winter temperature, and summer temperature show that flow rates in both basins are more sensitive to changes in winter than summer temperature.