The integration of PESETA sectoral economic impacts into the GEM-E3 Europe model: methodology and results

The PESETA project has estimated the physical effects of climate change in Europe for the following impact categories with a market valuation: agriculture, river floods, coastal systems and tourism. Four alternative scenarios of future climate change have been considered. The computable general equilibrium (CGE) GEM-E3 model for Europe has been used to integrate the PESETA damages under a consistent economic framework. The approach followed has been to assess the effects of future climate (as of 2080s) on today’s economy. This article details the way each sectoral impact has been integrated into the CGE model. The EU welfare loss is estimated to be in a range of 0.2% to 1%, depending on the climate future and the projected sea level rise. Results show that the Southern Europe region appears as the most vulnerable area to climate change. Impacts in coastal systems, agriculture and river floods determine the overall and regional pattern of impacts within Europe.     

A method for incorporating climate variability in climate change impact assessments: Sensitivity of river flows in the Eden catchment to precipitation scenarios

Interest in the impacts of climate change is ever increasing. This is particularly true of the water sector where understanding potential changes in the occurrence of both floods and droughts is important for strategic planning. Climate variability has been shown to have a significant impact on UK climate and accounting for this in future climate change projections is essential to fully anticipate potential future impacts. In this paper a new resampling methodology is developed which includes the variability of both baseline and future precipitation. The resampling methodology is applied to 13 CMIP3 climate models for the 2080s, resulting in an ensemble of monthly precipitation change factors. The change factors are applied to the Eden catchment in eastern Scotland with analysis undertaken for the sensitivity of future river flows to the changes in precipitation. Climate variability is shown to influence the magnitude and direction of change of both precipitation and in turn river flow, which are not apparent without the use of the resampling methodology. The transformation of precipitation changes to river flow changes display a degree of non-linearity due to the catchment’s role in buffering the response. The resampling methodology developed in this paper provides a new technique for creating climate change scenarios which incorporate the important issue of climate variability.     

Changes in Water Resources under Conditions of Climate Warming and Their Impact on Water Inflow to Russian Large Reservoirs

Changes are considered in the runoff regime of Russian rivers and in the water inflow to reservoirs as a result of the climate warming observed in the country since the second half of the 1970s. Based on the analysis of long–term observational data on water inflow to 41 large reservoirs with the volume of 10 x 10⁶ m³, it is shown that considerable changes in its intraannual distribution have occurred in the recent decades. These changes are characterized, in particular, by the inflow increase during the cold season and by the runoff variability increasing in winter and summer–autumn seasons. The growth of the number of severe hydrological events, especially of flash floods induced by rainfalls, has been registered in the recent decades. Potential future changes in water inflow to reservoirs are considered in accordance with the scenarios of further climate warming. It is justified that rules of using water resources of reservoirs should be corrected taking into account the observed changes in the river water inflow regime.     

Multi-factor impact analysis of agricultural production in Bangladesh with climate change

Diverse vulnerabilities of Bangladesh's agricultural sector in 16 sub-regions are assessed using experiments designed to investigate climate impact factors in isolation and in combination. Climate information from a suite of global climate models (GCMs) is used to drive models assessing the agricultural impact of changes in temperature, precipitation, carbon dioxide concentrations, river floods, and sea level rise for the 2040–2069 period in comparison to a historical baseline. Using the multi-factor impacts analysis framework developed in Yu et al. (2010), this study provides new sub-regional vulnerability analyses and quantifies key uncertainties in climate and production. Rice (aman, boro, and aus seasons) and wheat production are simulated in each sub-region using the biophysical Crop Environment REsource Synthesis (CERES) models. These simulations are then combined with the MIKE BASIN hydrologic model for river floods in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) Basins, and the MIKE21 Two-Dimensional Estuary Model to determine coastal inundation under conditions of higher mean sea level. The impacts of each factor depend on GCM configurations, emissions pathways, sub-regions, and particular seasons and crops. Temperature increases generally reduce production across all scenarios. Precipitation changes can have either a positive or a negative impact, with a high degree of uncertainty across GCMs. Carbon dioxide impacts on crop production are positive and depend on the emissions pathway. Increasing river flood areas reduce production in affected sub-regions. Precipitation uncertainties from different GCMs and emissions scenarios are reduced when integrated across the large GBM Basins’ hydrology. Agriculture in Southern Bangladesh is severely affected by sea level rise even when cyclonic surges are not fully considered, with impacts increasing under the higher emissions scenario.     

Methodological framework of the PESETA project on the impacts of climate change in Europe

The PESETA project makes a high-resolution integrated assessment of the effects of climate change in Europe in the following impact categories: agriculture, river floods, coastal systems, tourism and human health. Many relevant methodological decisions underlie the multi-disciplinary assessment, such as the selection of the climate scenarios and the economic valuation of the physical impacts. The main purpose of this article is to document the methodological framework of the PESETA project, identifying also where further research is required. How the different sources of uncertainty have been addressed in the project is explicitly analysed, including the climate change scenarios and the various sectoral methodologies.     

Yangtze Delta floods and droughts of the last millennium: Abrupt changes and long term memory

Summary Climate variability and flood events in the Yangtze Delta, which is a low-lying terrain prone to flood hazards, storm tides and typhoons, are studied in terms of a trend and detrended fluctuation analysis of historical records. The data used in this paper were extracted from historical records such as local annuals and chronologies from 1000–1950 and supplemented by instrumental observations since 1950. The historical data includes frequencies of floods, droughts and maritime events on a decadal basis. Flood magnitudes increase during the transition from the medieval warm interval into the early Little Ice Age. Fluctuating climate changes of the Little Ice Age, which are characterised by arid climate events, are followed by wet and cold climate conditions with frequent flood hazards. For trend analysis, the Mann-Kendall test is applied to determine the changing trends of flood and drought frequency. Flood frequency during 1000–1950 shows a negative trend before 1600 A.D. and a positive trend thereafter; drought frequency increases after 1300. The detrended fluctuation analysis of the flood and drought frequencies reveals power law scaling up to centuries; this is related to long-term memory and is similar to the river Nile floods.     

Ensemble flood risk assessment in Europe under high end climate scenarios

At the current rate of global warming, the target of limiting it within 2 degrees by the end of the century seems more and more unrealistic. Policymakers, businesses and organizations leading international negotiations urge the scientific community to provide realistic and accurate assessments of the possible consequences of so called “high end” climate scenarios.This study illustrates a novel procedure to assess the future flood risk in Europe under high levels of warming. It combines ensemble projections of extreme streamflow for the current century based on EURO-CORDEX RCP 8.5 climate scenarios with recent advances in European flood hazard mapping. Further novelties include a threshold-based evaluation of extreme event magnitude and frequency, an alternative method to removing bias in climate projections, the latest pan-European exposure maps, and an improved flood vulnerability estimation.Estimates of population affected and direct flood damages indicate that by the end of the century the socio-economic impact of river floods in Europe is projected to increase by an average 220% due to climate change only. When coherent socio-economic development pathways are included in the assessment, central estimates of population annually affected by floods range between 500,000 and 640,000 in 2050, and between 540,000 and 950,000 in 2080, as compared to 216,000 in the current climate. A larger range is foreseen in the annual flood damage, currently of 5.3 B€, which is projected to rise at 20–40 B€ in 2050 and 30–100 B€ in 2080, depending on the future economic growth.     

气候变化对淮河防洪与排涝管理项目的影响及适应对策研究

以"淮河流域重点平原洼地治理工程外资项目"为对象,综合分析了流域内地理气候、经济社会、河流水系及防洪体系的相互关系与演变特征。在气候变化影响下,流域3种类型的洪水中,由持续一两个月的长历时降水形成的量大但不集中的洪水,对平原洼地农业发展及治理工程效益的影响最为显著。在此基础上,对气候变化可能造成的影响进行了半定量分析,并提出了增强排涝能力与提高自适应能力并举的应对方案。     

气候变化对淮河防洪与排涝管理项目的影响及适应对策研究

 以"淮河流域重点平原洼地治理工程外资项目"为对象,综合分析了流域内地理气候、经济社会、河流水系及防洪体系的相互关系与演变特征。在气候变化影响下,流域3种类型的洪水中,由持续一两个月的长历时降水形成的量大但不集中的洪水,对平原洼地农业发展及治理工程效益的影响最为显著。在此基础上,对气候变化可能造成的影响进行了半定量分析,并提出了增强排涝能力与提高自适应能力并举的应对方案。     

Errors in taking account of the runoff of the rivers with diurnal variations of the water level at the absence of increased-frequency observations

Estimated are additional errors in taking account of the river runoff during different phases of high water and snowmelt floods using the observational data from gaging stations at the absence of increased-frequency measurements of the water level (due to the lack or downtime of recorders). Described is a method for determination of these errors. Using the data collected on 118 gaging stations on 58 rivers in different regions of Russia and the former USSR for seven years of observations, determined are the possible additional errors of average daily, monthly and annual water flows of the rivers of different sizes as well as the total errors that take account of the additional errors.     

郁江南宁17场洪水之合成面雨量特征分析

对郁江南宁 17场洪水的合成面雨量分布特征作了较系统的分析 ,发现引发南宁洪水的主要天气系统及其配置、合成面雨量的流域值及“6 8.8”大洪水和“0 1.7”特大洪水的合成面雨量表征 ,对今后进一步做好重大洪水的气象服务具有十分积极的意义     

Institutional design propositions for the governance of adaptation to climate change in the water sector

This paper provides an evidence-based contribution to understanding processes of climate change adaptation in water governance systems in the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa. It builds upon the work of Ostrom on institutional design principles for local common pool resources systems. We argue that for dealing with complexities and uncertainties related to climate change impacts (e.g. increased frequency and intensity of floods or droughts) additional or adjusted institutional design propositions are necessary that facilitate learning processes. This is especially the case for dealing with complex, cross-boundary and large-scale resource systems, such as river basins and delta areas in the Netherlands and South Africa or groundwater systems in Western Australia. In this paper we provide empirical support for a set of eight refined and extended institutional design propositions for the governance of adaptation to climate change in the water sector. Together they capture structural, agency and learning dimensions of the adaptation challenge and they provide a strong initial framework to explore key institutional issues in the governance of adaptation to climate change. These institutional design propositions support a “management as learning” approach to dealing with complexity and uncertainty. They do not specify blueprints, but encourage adaptation tuned to the specific features of local geography, ecology, economies and cultures.     

Estimating the Impact of Global Change on Flood and Drought Risks in Europe: A Continental, Integrated Analysis

Most studies on the impact of climate change on regional water resources focus on long-term average flows or mean water availability, and they rarely take the effects of altered human water use into account. When analyzing extreme events such as floods and droughts, the assessments are typically confined to smaller areas and case studies. At the same time it is acknowledged that climate change may severely alter the risk of hydrological extremes over large regional scales, and that human water use will put additional pressure on future water resources. In an attempt to bridge these various aspects, this paper presents a first-time continental, integrated analysis of possible impacts of global change (here defined as climate and water use change) on future flood and drought frequencies for the selected study area of Europe. The global integrated water model WaterGAP is evaluated regarding its capability to simulate high and low-flow regimes and is then applied to calculate relative changes in flood and drought frequencies. The results indicate large ‘critical regions’ for which significant changes in flood or drought risks are expected under the proposed global change scenarios. The regions most prone to a rise in flood frequencies are northern to northeastern Europe, while southern and southeastern Europe show significant increases in drought frequencies. In the critical regions, events with an intensity of today's 100-year floods and droughts may recur every 10–50 years by the 2070s. Though interim and preliminary, and despite the inherent uncertainties in the presented approach, the results underpin the importance of developing mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change impacts on a continental scale.     

Meteorological Features of Flash-Flood -Producing Rainstorms in the Yujiang River near Nanning City

郁江南宁段致洪气象特征的分析表明, 热带气旋影响左、右江流域是致洪的主要原因; 洪峰出现前的第９ 到第５ 天的流域降雨量对洪水的形成具有最重要的作用。     

近60年来中国主要流域极端降水演变特征

在全球增暖背景下,中国极端降水事件及洪涝、干旱等次生灾害近年来频发,严重影响生态系统、人民的生产生活和社会经济发展。本文基于气候变化检测和指数专家组（ETCCDI）定义的10个降水指数,利用中国台站日降水资料,系统分析了1961～2017年中国及九大流域片降水变化情况,并利用空间场显著性检验考察不同降水指数的显著变化是否与外强迫作用有关。结果表明,各降水指数的变化具有区域性特征。整体而言,全国范围内平均降水、降水强度、极端强降水和连续性强降水呈增强趋势的台站数多于呈减弱趋势的台站数,呈显著增强趋势的台站占比不可能仅由气候系统内部变率引起,还受到外强迫的影响。此外,中国大部分站点连续干旱日数（CDD）减少,观测中CDD呈显著减弱趋势的台站占比也与外强迫作用有关。九大流域片中,内陆河片能够观测到平均降水、降水强度、极端强降水和连续性强降水的增多以及连续干旱日数的减少,有洪涝灾害增多的风险,且上述变化可归因为外强迫的作用。长江流域片、东南诸河片和珠海流域片平均降水、极端强降水和连续性强降水均增强,其中强降水的变化与外强迫作用有关。西南诸河片极端强降水增强,但大部分站点CDD呈增加趋势,有干旱增加的风险。黄河流域片、海河流域片、淮河流域片及松辽河流域片的大部分站点及区域平均结果中,降水指数多无显著变化趋势。增暖背景下,不同流域片呈现出不同的降水变化特征,将面临不同的气候灾害风险。     

自然气候变异与人为气候变化对径流影响研究进展

 在回顾IPCC于1990-2007年4次关于气候变化对径流影响的评估报告进展的基础上,将第一次与第二次评估报告归纳为第一代--以气候均值变化对径流影响及其适应为主要特征;第三次与第四次评估报告为第二代--突出人为气候变化与自然气候变异对径流影响及其适应问题,分析了常规的气候变化对水文水资源影响评估方法的发展过程及存在的问题。研究结果反映了年代际时间尺度的自然气候变异的影响,而未能考虑与极端事件发生频次和强度变化密切相联的日、季和年际尺度的气候变异的影响,从而低估了气候变暖对洪水、干旱以及农业灌溉需水的负面作用。在介绍国内外研究的基础上,为第五次IPCC评估报告提出了加强交叉学科综合研究的建议。     

Climate-related changes in hazardous and adverse hydrological events in the Russian rivers

Regional peculiarities of the direction of climate-related changes in the maximum and minimum river runoff in Russia in the 20th century, frequency and duration of dangerous inundations with economic damage, floods, mudflows as well as lack of water, and low-water periods are under consideration. It is found that for the first years of the 21st century, compared to the last decade of the 20th century, frequency and duration of hazardous inundations during high waters and floods increased in the Upper Ob and Kama river basins, during high waters, in the rivers of the Far East Primorye and Sakhalin, in the Northern Caucasus, the danger induced by mudflows and rain floods increased. In the Lena and Yenisey river basins, the flood hazard was preserved in the case of ice clogging. At the same time, in the Western Siberian, Trans-Baikal, the Amur, and Kolyma basins the frequency of periods with extremely shallow water significantly increased.     

自然气候变异与人为气候变化对径流影响研究进展

在回顾IPCC于1990-2007年4次关于气候变化对径流影响的评估报告进展的基础上,将第一次与第二次评估报告归纳为第一代--以气候均值变化对径流影响及其适应为主要特征;第三次与第四次评估报告为第二代--突出人为气候变化与自然气候变异对径流影响及其适应问题,分析了常规的气候变化对水文水资源影响评估方法的发展过程及存在的问题。研究结果反映了年代际时间尺度的自然气候变异的影响,而未能考虑与极端事件发生频次和强度变化密切相联的日、季和年际尺度的气候变异的影响,从而低估了气候变暖对洪水、干旱以及农业灌溉需水的负面作用。在介绍国内外研究的基础上,为第五次IPCC评估报告提出了加强交叉学科综合研究的建议。     

Projections of climate change impacts on river flood conditions in Germany by combining three different RCMs with a regional eco-hydrological model

A general increase in precipitation has been observed in Germany in the last century, and potential changes in flood generation and intensity are now at the focus of interest. The aim of the paper is twofold: a) to project the future flood conditions in Germany accounting for various river regimes (from pluvial to nival-pluvial regimes) and under different climate scenarios (the high, A2, low, B1, and medium, A1B, emission scenarios) and b) to investigate sources of uncertainty generated by climate input data and regional climate models. Data of two dynamical Regional Climate Models (RCMs), REMO (REgional Model) and CCLM (Cosmo-Climate Local Model), and one statistical-empirical RCM, Wettreg (Wetterlagenbasierte Regionalisierungsmethode: weather-type based regionalization method), were applied to drive the eco-hydrological model SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model), which was previously validated for 15 gauges in Germany. At most of the gauges, the 95 and 99 percentiles of the simulated discharge using SWIM with observed climate data had a good agreement with the observed discharge for 1961–2000 (deviation within ±10 %). However, the simulated discharge had a bias when using RCM climate as input for the same period. Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distributions were fitted to the annual maximum series of river runoff for each realization for the control and scenario periods, and the changes in flood generation over the whole simulation time were analyzed. The 50-year flood values estimated for two scenario periods (2021–2060, 2061–2100) were compared to the ones derived from the control period using the same climate models. The results driven by the statistical-empirical model show a declining trend in the flood level for most rivers, and under all climate scenarios. The simulations driven by dynamical models give various change directions depending on region, scenario and time period. The uncertainty in estimating high flows and, in particular, extreme floods remains high, due to differences in regional climate models, emission scenarios and multi-realizations generated by RCMs.     

Attribution matters: Revisiting the link between extreme weather experience and climate change mitigation responses

The literature suggests that extreme weather experiences have potential to increase climate change engagement by influencing the way people perceive the proximity and implications of climate change. Yet, limited attention has been directed at investigating how individual differences in the subjective interpretation of extreme weather events as indications of climate change moderate the link between extreme weather experiences and climate change attitudes. This article contends that subjective attribution of extreme weather events to climate change is a necessary condition for extreme weather experiences to be translated into climate change mitigation responses, and that subjective attribution of extreme weather to climate change is influenced by the psychological and social contexts in which individuals appraise their experiences with extreme weather. Using survey data gathered in the aftermath of severe flooding across the UK in winter 2013/2014, personal experience of this flooding event is shown to only directly predict perceived threat from climate change, and indirectly predict climate change mitigation responses, among individuals who subjectively attributed the floods to climate change. Additionally, subjective attribution of the floods to climate change is significantly predicted by pre-existing climate change belief, political affiliation and perceived normative cues. Attempts to harness extreme weather experiences as a route to engaging the public must be attentive to the heterogeneity of opinion on the attributability of extreme weather events to climate change.