Climate change and river flooding: Part 2 sensitivity characterisation for british catchments and example vulnerability assessments

This paper is the second of a series describing a scenario-neutral methodology to assess the sensitivity and vulnerability of British catchments to changes in flooding due to climate change. In paper one, nine flood sensitivity types were identified from response surfaces generated for 154 catchments. The response surfaces describe changes in 20-year return period flood peaks (RP20) in response to a large set of changes in precipitation, temperature and potential evapotranspiration. In this paper, a recursive partitioning algorithm is used to link families of sensitivity types to catchment properties, via a decision tree. The tree shows 85 % success characterising the four sensitivity families, using five properties and nine paths. Catchment annual average rainfall is the primary partitioning factor, with drier catchments having a more variable response to climate (precipitation) change than wetter catchments and higher catchment losses and permeability being aggravating factors. The full sensitivity-exposure-vulnerability methodology is illustrated for two catchments: sensitivity is estimated by using the decision tree to identify the sensitivity family (and its associated average response surface); exposure is defined from a set of climate model projections and combined with the response surface to estimate the resulting impacts (changes in RP20); vulnerability under a range of adaptive capacity thresholds is estimated from the set of impacts. Even though they are geographically close, the two catchments show differing vulnerability to climate change, due to their differing properties. This demonstrates that generalised response surfaces characterised by catchment properties are useful screening tools to quantify the vulnerability of catchments to climate change without the need to undertake a full climate change impact study.     

The relative importance of land use and climatic change in Alpine catchments

Carbon storage and catchment hydrology are influenced both by land use changes and climatic changes, but there are few studies addressing both responses under both driving forces. We investigated the relative importance of climate change vs. land use change for four Alpine catchments using the LPJ-GUESS model. Two scenarios of grassland management were calibrated based on the more detailed model PROGRASS. The simulations until 2100 show that only reforestation could lead to an increase of carbon storage under climatic change, whereby a cessation of carbon accumulation occurred in all catchments after 2050. The initial increase in carbon storage was attributable mainly to forest re-growth on abandoned land, whereas the stagnation and decline in the second half of the century was mainly driven by climate change. If land was used more intensively, i.e. as grassland, litter input to the soil decreased due to harvesting, resulting in a decline of soil carbon storage (1.2−2.9 kg C m^–2) that was larger than the climate-induced change (0.8–1.4 kg C m⁻²). Land use change influenced transpiration both directly and in interaction with climate change. The response of forested catchments diverged with climatic change (11–40 mm increase in AET), reflecting the differences in forest age, topography and water holding capacity within and between catchments. For grass-dominated catchments, however, transpiration responded in a similar manner to climate change (light management: 23–32 mm AET decrease, heavy management: 29–44 mm AET decrease), likely because grassroots are concentrated in the uppermost soil layers. Both the water and the carbon cycle were more strongly influenced by land use compared to climatic changes, as land use had not only a direct effect on carbon storage and transpiration, but also an indirect effect by modifying the climate change response of transpiration and carbon flux in the catchments. For the carbon cycle, climate change led to a cessation of the catchment response (sink/source strength is limited), whereas for the water cycle, the effect of land use change remains evident throughout the simulation period (changes in evapotranspiration do not attenuate). Thus we conclude that management will have a large potential to influence the carbon and water cycle, which needs to be considered in management planning as well as in climate and hydrological modelling.     

Hydrological Impacts of Climate Change on Inflows to Perth, Australia

The effects of climate change due to increasing atmospheric CO₂ onthe major tributaries to the Swan River (Perth, Western Australia) have been investigated. The climate scenarios are based on results from General Circulation Models (GCMs) and 1000 year time series are produced using a stochastic weather generator. The hydrological implications of these scenarios are then examined using a conceptual rainfall-runoff model, CMD-IHACRES, to model the response of six catchments, which combine to represent almost 90% of the total flow entering the upper Swan River,and hence the Perth city urban area. The changes in streamflow varies considerably between catchments, exhibiting a strong dependence on the physical attributes of the catchment in question. The increase in the magnitudes of rare flood events despite significant decreases in mean streamflow levels found in some catchments emphasizes the importance of estimating changes in the nature of the precipitation (variance, length of storm and interstorm periods), along with changes in the mean, in climate change scenarios.     

Hydroclimatic change disparity of Peruvian Pacific drainage catchments

Peruvian Pacific drainage catchments only benefit from 2% of the total national available freshwater while they concentrate almost 50% of the population of the country. This situation is likely to lead a severe water scarcity and also constitutes an obstacle to economic development. Catchment runoff fluctuations in response to climate variability and/or human activities can be reflected in extreme events, representing a serious concern (like floods, erosion, droughts) in the study area. To document this crucial issue for Peru, we present here an insightful analysis of the water quantity resource variability of this region, exploring the links between this variability and climate and/or anthropogenic pressure. We first present a detailed analysis of the hydroclimatologic variability at annual timescale and at basin scale over the 1970–2008 period. In addition to corroborating the influence of extreme El Niño events over precipitation and runoff in northern catchments, a mean warming of 0.2 °C per decade over all catchments was found. Also, higher values of temperature and potential and actual evapotranspiration were found over northern latitudes. We chose to apply the Budyko-Zhang framework that characterizes the water cycle as a function of climate only, allowing the identification of catchments with significant climatic and anthropogenic influence on water balance. The Budyko-Zhang methodology revealed that 11 out of 26 initial catchments are characterized by low water balance disparity related to minor climatic and anthropogenic influence. These 11 catchments were suitable for identifying catchments with contrasting change in their hydroclimatic behavior using the Budyko trajectories. Our analysis further reveals that six hydrological catchment responses can be characterized by high sensitivity to climate variability and land use changes.     

The Climate Change Effect on the Water Regime. The Case Study: the Karun Catchment,Iran

One of the most important effects of climate change is changes in the water regime and the frequency of flood occurrence. The Karun catchment is one of the most important Iran catchments, but it has never been studied specifically. This study considers the effect of climate change on the annual and the maximum runoff of the Karun catchment in the Shalu bridge area. First, temperature and monthly precipitation of the HadCM3 model were downscaled based on three scenarios, AlB, A2, and B1, ustng the LARS-WG model. Then data were spatially downscaled based on the change factor model, and the SRM model was used to simulate runoff. The results show that the climate change affects the water regime of this catchment.     

RECOGNISING THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE QUANTIFICATION OF THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HYDROLOGICAL RESPONSE

A widely used method of evaluating effects of climate change on flow regime is to perturb the climate inputs to a rainfall–runoff model and examine the effect on a statistic of the modelled flows. Such studies require four elements: a method of perturbing the climate, a rainfall–runoff model, a study catchment and a flow index. In practice the direction and magnitude of the estimated effects depend on each of the four elements, leading to concern over the usefulness and generality of the results. To investigate these uncertainties two climate scenarios and eight climate sensitivity tests have been applied to three UK catchments using two conceptual rainfall–runoff models in order to quantify effects of climate change on three flow indices representing mean runoff, flood magnitudes and low flows. The sensitivity tests were found to be useful to assess the suitability of the models to simulate flows outside the conditions experienced in their calibration. Both models gave internally consistent results but, on close examination, one model was found inappropriate for this application. Results show that the effect of climate change on flow varies between catchments and that different flow response indices can change in opposite directions, e.g. floods increased in magnitude while low flows reduced. Contrasting results were obtained from the two climate scenarios.     

When timing matters-considering changing temporal structures in runoff response surfaces

Scenario-neutral response surfaces illustrate the sensitivity of a simulated natural system, represented by a specific impact variable, to systematic perturbations of climatic parameters. This type of approach has recently been developed as an alternative to top-down approaches for the assessment of climate change impacts. A major limitation of this approach is the underrepresentation of changes in the temporal structure of the climate input data (i.e., the seasonal and day-to-day variability) since this is not altered by the perturbation. This paper presents a framework that aims to examine this limitation by perturbing both observed and projected climate data time series for a future period, which both serve as input into a hydrological model (the HBV model). The resulting multiple response surfaces are compared at a common domain, the standardized runoff response surface (SRRS). We apply this approach in a case study catchment in Norway to (i) analyze possible changes in mean and extreme runoff and (ii) quantify the influence of changes in the temporal structure represented by 17 different climate input sets using linear mixed-effect models. Results suggest that climate change induced increases in mean and peak flow runoff and only small changes in low flow. They further suggest that the effect of the different temporal structures of the climate input data considerably affects low flows and floods (at least 21% influence), while it is negligible for mean runoff.     

Climate Change Impacts on Urban Flooding

This paper estimates changes in thepotential damage of flood events caused by increasesof CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere. It ispresented in two parts: 1. the modelling of floodfrequency and magnitude under global warming andassociated rainfall intensities and 2. the use ofgreenhouse flood data to assess changes in thevulnerability of flood prone urban areas, expressingthese in terms of direct losses.Three case studies were selected: theHawkesbury–Nepean corridor, the Queanbeyan and UpperParramatta Rivers. All three catchments are located insoutheastern Australia, near Sydney and Canberra.These were chosen because each had detailed buildingdata bases available and the localities are situatedon rivers that vary in catchment size andcharacteristics. All fall within a region that willexperience similar climate change under the availablegreenhouse scenarios. The GCMs' slab model scenariosof climate change in 2030 and 2070 will cause onlyminor changes to urban flood damage but the doubleCO₂ scenarios estimated using the StochasticWeather Generator technique will lead to significantincreases in building damage.For all the case studies, the hydrological modellingindicates that there will be increases in themagnitude and frequency of flood events under thedouble CO₂ conditions although these vary fromplace to place. However, the overall pattern of changeis that for the Upper Parramatta River the 1 in 100-year flood under currentconditions becomes the 1 in44-year event, the 1 in 35-year flood for theHawkesbury–Nepean and the 1 in 10 for Queanbeyan andCanberra. This indicates the importance of usingrainfall-runoff modelling in order to estimate changesin flood frequencies in catchments with differentphysical characteristics.     

Greenhouse climatic change and flood damages,the implications

Most scenarios of greenhouse climate change are obtained from general circulation models. These provide poor information on changes to extreme events. It is therefore, difficult to convert changes of flood frequency into their impact on flood damages. The procedures for estimating urban flood losses are outlined. Australian case studies illustrate the possible effects of greenhouse-induced changes in comparison to the variability under current climate; changes in urban flood losses for small and large catchments; and the implications for dam design. In all cases, relatively small increases in flood frequency would cause significant increases in loss. The policy implications are outlined, it must not be assumed that the availability of more precise data on future flood frequencies will be matched by policy response in the field of flood plain management.     

Uncertainties linked to land-surface processes in climate change simulations

 The impact of climate change on the hydrology of continental surfaces is critical for human activities but the response of the surface to this perturbation may also affect the sensitivity of the climate. This complex feedback is simulated in general circulation models (GCMs) used for climate change predictions by their land-surface schemes. The present study attempts to quantify the uncertainty associated with these schemes and what impact it has on our confidence in the simulated climate anomalies. Four GCMs, each coupled to two different land-surface schemes, are used to explore the spectrum of uncertainties. It is shown that, in this sample, surface processes have a significant contribution to our ability to predict surface temperature changes and perturbations of the hydrological cycle in an environment with doubled greenhouse gas concentration. The results reveal that the uncertainty introduced by land-surface processes in the simulated climate is different from its impact on the sensitivity of GCMs to climate change, indeed an alteration of the surface parametrization with little impact on model climate can affect sensitivity significantly. This result leads us to believe that the validation of land-surface schemes should not be limited to the current climate but should also cover their sensitivity to variations in climatic forcing. Received: 24 June 1999 / Accepted: 20 April 2000     

Comparison of the use of alternative UKCP09 products for modelling the impacts of climate change on flood frequency

Climate change could have significant impacts on hydrology. This paper uses UK Climate Projections 09 (UKCP09) products to assess the impacts on flood frequency in Britain. The main UKCP09 product comprises conditional probabilistic information on changes in a number of climate variables on a 25?×?25?km grid across the UK (the Sampled Data change factors). A second product is a Weather Generator which produces time-series of current weather variables and future weather variables based on the Sampled Data and consistent with the change factors. A third product comprises time-series from a Regional Climate Model (RCM) ensemble which were used to downscale Global Climate Models (GCMs) on which the projections are based and whose outputs were used in the production of the Sampled Data. This paper compares the use of Sampled Data change factors, Weather Generator time-series, RCM-derived change factors and RCM time-series. Each is used to provide hydrological model inputs for nine catchments, to assess impacts for the 2080s (A1B emissions). The results show relatively good agreement between methods for most catchments, with the four median values for a catchment generally being within 10% of each other. There are also some clear differences, with the use of time-series generally leading to a greater uncertainty range than the use of change factors because the latter do not allow for the effects of, or changes in, natural variability. Also, the use of Weather Generator time-series leads to much greater impacts than the other methods for one catchment. The results suggest that climate impact studies should not necessarily rely on the application of just one UKCP09 product, as each has different strengths and weaknesses.     

Climate change impact on water and salt balances: an assessment of the impact of climate change on catchment salt and water balances in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

Climate change has potentially significant implications for hydrology and the quantity and quality of water resources. This study investigated the impacts of climate change and revegetation on water and salt balance, and stream salt concentration for catchments within the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. The Biophysical Capacity to Change model was used with climate change scenarios obtained using the CSIRO DARLAM 125 (125 km resolution) and Cubic Conformal (50 km resolution) regional climate models. These models predicted up to 25% reduction in mean annual rainfall and a similar magnitude of increase in potential evapotranspiration by 2070. Relatively modest changes in rainfall and temperature can lead to significant reductions in mean annual runoff and salt yield and increases in stream salt concentrations within the Basin. The modelled reductions in mean annual runoff were up to 45% in the wetter/cooler southern catchments and up to 64% in the drier/hotter western and northern catchments. The maximum reductions in salt yield were estimated to be up to 34% in the southern catchments and up to 49% in the northern and western catchments. These changes are associated with average catchment rainfall decreases of 13 to 21%. The results suggest that percentage changes in rainfall will be amplified in runoff. This study demonstrates that climate change poses significant challenges to natural resource management in Australia.     

Impact of Climate Change on the Water Cycle and Nutrient Losses in a Finnish Catchment

Changes in climate, either long or short-term changes, can alter significantly the hydrological behavior of catchments. A statistical analysis of a thirty-four year time series of meteorological data collected in the Vantaanjoki watershed (Southern Finland) shows an increase in temperature and precipitation. The hydrological model SWAT was applied to the Vantaanjoki watershed in order to assess the impact of the measured transient climate change on the hydro-biogeochemical behavior of the catchment. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated for a period extending from 1965 to 1998. The model performance was evaluated comparing the measured and predicted time series for flow, suspended solids, total nitrogen and total phosphorus at the watershed outlet. The model was then run for the same period with climatic data where the observed increase in temperature and precipitation was removed using non-parametric techniques. It was shown that the observed climate change was responsible for the decrease of the snow cover and increase of winter runoff. On an annual basis, small increases were noted in nutrient losses, however, with significant seasonal differences. Globally, the observed climate change was responsible for an increased contribution of diffuse nutrient losses to the total nutrient load.     

Integrated assessment of changes in flooding probabilities due to climate change

An approach to considering changes in flooding probability in the integrated assessment of climate change is introduced. A reduced-form hydrological model for flood prediction and a downscaling approach suitable for integrated assessment modeling are presented. Based on these components, the fraction of world population living in river basins affected by changes in flooding probability in the course of climate change is determined. This is then used as a climate impact response function in order to derive emission corridors limiting the population affected. This approach illustrates the consideration of probabilistic impacts within the framework of the tolerable windows approach. Based on the change in global mean temperature, as calculated by the simple climate models used in integrated assessment, spatially resolved changes in climatic variables are determined using pattern scaling, while natural variability in these variables is considered using twentieth century deviations from the climatology. Driven by the spatially resolved climate change, the hydrological model then aggregates these changes to river basin scale. The hydrological model is subjected to a sensitivity analysis with regard to the water balance, and the uncertainty arising through the different projections of changes in mean climate by differing climate models is considered by presenting results based on different models. The results suggest that up to 20% of world population live in river basins that might inevitably be affected by increased flood events in the course of global warming, depending on the climate model used to estimate the regional distribution of changes in climate. This article is dedicated to the memory of the late Gerhard Petschel-Held. He was an inspiring colleague, as well as a good friend. His sudden departure leaves me deeply shocked, and I am sure he will sorely be missed by all who had the pleasure of meeting him. Thomas Kleinen     

Sensitivity of carbon cycling in the European Alps to changes of climate and land cover

Assessments of the impacts of global change on carbon stocks in mountain regions have received little attention to date, in spite of the considerable role of these areas for the global carbon cycle. We used the regional hydro-ecological simulation system RHESSys in five case study catchments from different climatic zones in the European Alps to investigate the behavior of the carbon cycle under changing climatic and land cover conditions derived from the SRES scenarios of the IPCC. The focus of this study was on analyzing the differences in carbon cycling across various climatic zones of the Alps, and to explore the differences between the impacts of various SRES scenarios (A1FI, A2, B1, B2), and between several global circulation models (GCMs, i.e., HadCM3, CGCM2, CSIRO2, PCM). The simulation results indicate that the warming trend generally enhances carbon sequestration in these catchments over the first half of the twenty-first century, particularly in forests just below treeline. Thereafter, forests at low elevations increasingly release carbon as a consequence of the changed balance between growth and respiration processes, resulting in a net carbon source at the catchment scale. Land cover changes have a strong modifying effect on these climate-induced patterns. While the simulated temporal pattern of carbon cycling is qualitatively similar across the five catchments, quantitative differences exist due to the regional differences of the climate and land cover scenarios, with land cover exerting a stronger influence. The differences in the simulations with scenarios derived from several GCMs under one SRES scenario are of the same magnitude as the differences between various SRES scenarios derived from one single GCM, suggesting that the uncertainty in climate model projections needs to be narrowed before accurate impact assessments under the various SRES scenarios can be made at the local to regional scale. We conclude that the carbon balance of the European Alps is likely to shift strongly in the future, driven mainly by land cover changes, but also by changes of the climate. We recommend that assessments of carbon cycling at regional to continental scales should make sure to adequately include sub-regional differences of changes in climate and land cover, particularly in areas with a complex topography.     

The Flood Characteristics of Large U.K. Rivers: Potential Effects of Changing Climate and Land Use

A continuous flow simulation model(CLASSIC) has been used to assess the potential impactof climate and land use changes on the flood regimesof large U.K. catchments. Climate change scenarios,based on the HadCM2 experiments from the HadleyCentre, are applied to the Severn and Thames rivers.The analysis shows that, for the 2050s, the climatechange scenarios result in an increase in both thefrequency and magnitude of flooding events in theserivers. The various ways of applying the rainfallscenario can have a significant effect on thesegeneral conclusions, although generally do not affecteither the direction or consistency of the changes.While best guess land use changes show little impacton flood response, a 50% increase in forest covercould counter-act the impact of climate change. Aswould be expected, a large change in the urban coverof the catchments does have a large effect on theflood regimes, increasing both the frequency andmagnitude of floods significantly beyond the changesdue to climate alone. Further research is requiredinto the potential impacts of seasonal changes in thedaily rainfall and potential evaporation regimes, landuse changes and the interaction between the two.     

近50 年海河流域径流的变化趋势研究

该文用Mann-Kendall方法对近50年海河流域山区20个子流域的径流及降水的变化趋势进行了显著性检验, 结合降水, 径流及气温的年代距平值的同步分析以及径流对气候变化的敏感性研究结果, 对近50年海河流域径流的变化趋势, 提出了一个半定量分析的研究思路和方法。提出影响径流变化的三种类型:以气候暖干化为主, 人类活动为辅的径流显著衰减型;以人类活动为主, 气候暖干化为辅的径流显著衰减型;人类活动与气候变异都不明显, 径流无显著变化的类型。分析结果展示了气候、人类活动与水之间的相互作用。这种相互作用, 给径流的变化趋势分析和成因分析带来了复杂性与困难, 也给气候变化对水资源的影响研究提出了挑战。     

Preparing for Climatic Change: The Water, Salmon, and Forests of the Pacific Northwest

The impacts of year-to-year and decade-to-decade climatic variations on some of the Pacific Northwest's key natural resources can be quantified to estimate sensitivity to regional climatic changes expected as part of anthropogenic global climatic change. Warmer, drier years, often associated with El Niño events and/or the warm phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, tend to be associated with below-average snowpack, streamflow, and flood risk, below-average salmon survival, below-average forest growth, and above-average risk of forest fire. During the 20th century, the region experienced a warming of 0.8 °C. Using output from eight climate models, we project a further warming of 0.5–2.5 °C (central estimate 1.5 °C) by the 2020s, 1.5–3.2°C (2.3 °C) by the 2040s, and an increase in precipitation except in summer. The foremost impact of a warming climate will be the reduction of regional snowpack, which presently supplies water for ecosystems and human uses during the dry summers. Our understanding of past climate also illustrates the responses of human management systems to climatic stresses, and suggests that a warming of the rate projected would pose significant challenges to the management of natural resources. Resource managers and planners currently have few plans for adapting to or mitigating the ecological and economic effects of climatic change.     

Effects of climate change on snow accumulation and melting in the Broye catchment (Switzerland)

The study used a daily step conceptual hydrological model to examine the effects of climate change on snowfall accumulation and on snow cover melting in the Broye catchment (moderate relief- altitude from 400 to 1500 m a.s.l.). Five elevation bands representing a range of climatic conditions were used together with three realistic climate change scenarios based loosely on GCM's predictions and which reflect feasible changes by extending time periods. For a very moderate climate change (rise in air temperature of ca 1 °C), possibly in a near future, the reduction of snow cover duration, mean water equivalent and monthly maximum water equivalent is the most sensitive in the lower part of the catchment and during the first and last months of the snow season. In the higher part of the basin and during the colder months January and February, similar reduction rates can be expected in case of larger climate changes. The floods due to the melting of snow cover are lower. Sometimes rainfall, considered as snow in the present day conditions, generates additional floods during the winter season. For winter sports resorts below 1500 m a.s.l., even the very moderate climatic change scenario (temperature rise around 1 °C) leads to economically very difficult conditions. Finally, a climatic change detection index based on snow cover duration is proposed.     

中国东部降水的极端特性及其气候特征分析

基于1960—2017年观测数据分析了中国东部降水极端特性的地区差异、季节和气候学特征及变化格局,探讨了与全球变化和区域气候变率的关联性。结果表明,极端性降水的演化与降水均值或总量的气候型态、降水集中性和持续性密切关联,尤其雨带迁移和雨型演替是影响极端性降水地区差异与时空演变的根本因素。气候变化背景下,中国东部极端性降水强度和频次变化存在较好的协同一致性,近60年来在长江以南,强度加大的地区极端性降水亦趋于频发。同时,两者季节特征和地区差异明显。春季东北地区及华北北部极端性降水强度和频次均有明显增加。近60年来夏季极端性降水强度和频次的趋势变化在长江以南均以增加为主,以北以下降为主。秋季极端性降水强度和频次在华北地区亦呈增加趋势。冬季华南和江南地区极端性降水强度和频次趋势变化均以增加为主。华北地区及以北和内蒙古的西部冬季极端性降水强度增加显著,但频次变化不明显。而东北地区北部冬季极端性降水在强度减小的情形下,其频次仍趋显著增加。特别是中国降水主要集中在夏季,自1980年代以来中国东部夏季多雨带南移,雨型以北方型和中间型占优,转换为以长江型和华南型为主,多雨带的极端性降水群发性强,影响指数显著增加。此外,太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)暖位相及ENSO暖事件期间,长江以北夏季极端性降水的影响指数会显著降低。而东亚夏季风的减弱则有利于长江中下游等地区夏季极端性降水的频发和群发,极端性降水强度加大,其影响的危险性趋于增强。