Mid-Century Ensemble Regional Climate Change Scenarios for the Western United States

To study the impacts of climate change on water resources in the western U.S., global climate simulations were produced using the National Center for Atmospheric Research/Department of Energy (NCAR/DOE) Parallel Climate Model (PCM). The Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) was used to downscale the PCM control (20 years) and three future(2040–2060) climate simulations to yield ensemble regional climate simulations at 40 km spatial resolution for the western U.S. This paper describes the regional simulations and focuses on the hydroclimate conditions in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) and Sacramento-San Joaquin River (SSJ) Basin. Results based on global and regional simulations show that by mid-century, the average regional warming of 1 to 2.5 °C strongly affects snowpack in the western U.S. Along coastal mountains, reduction in annual snowpack was about70% as indicated by the regional simulations. Besides changes in mean temperature, precipitation, and snowpack, cold season extreme daily precipitation increased by 5 to 15 mm/day (15–20%) along theCascades and the Sierra. The warming resulted in increased rainfall at the expense of reduced snowfall, and reduced snow accumulation (or earlier snowmelt) during the cold season. In the CRB, these changes were accompanied by more frequent rain-on-snow events. Overall, they induced higher likelihood of wintertime flooding and reduced runoff and soil moisture in the summer. Changes in surface water and energy budgets in the CRB and SSJ basin were affected mainly by changes in surface temperature, which were statistically significant at the 0.95 confidence level. Changes in precipitation, while spatially incoherent, were not statistically significant except for the drying trend during summer. Because snow and runoff are highly sensitive tospatial distributions of temperature and precipitation, this study shows that (1) downscaling provides more realistic estimates of hydrologic impacts in mountainous regions such as the western U.S., and (2) despite relatively small changes in temperature and precipitation, changes in snowpack and runoff can be much larger on monthly to seasonal time scales because the effects of temperature and precipitation are integrated over time and space through various surface hydrological and land-atmosphere feedback processes. Although the results reported in this study were derived from an ensemble of regional climate simulations driven by a global climate model that displays low climate sensitivity compared with most other models, climate change was found to significantly affect water resources in the western U.S. by the mid twenty-first century.     

The Effect of Spatial Scale of Climatic Change Scenarios on Simulated Maize, Winter Wheat, and Rice Production in the Southeastern United States

We use the CERES family of crop models to assess the effect of different spatial scales of climate change scenarios on the simulated yield changes of maize (Zea mays L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.),and rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the Southeastern United States. The climate change scenarios were produced with the control and doubled CO₂ runs of a high resolution regional climate model anda coarse resolution general circulation model, which provided the initial and lateral boundary conditions for the regional model. Three different cases were considered for each scenario: climate change alone, climate change plus elevated CO₂, and the latter with adaptations. On the state level,for most cases, significant differences in the climate changed yields for corn were found, the coarse scale scenario usually producing larger modeled yield decreases or smaller increases. For wheat, however, which suffered large decreases in yields for all cases, very little contrast in yield based on scale of scenario was found. Scenario scale resulted in significantly different rice yields, but mainly because of low variability in yields. For maize the primary climate variable that explained the contrast in the yields calculated from the two scenarios is the precipitation during grain fill leading to different water stress levels. Temperature during vernalization explains some contrasts in winter wheat yields. With adaptation, the contrasts in the yields of all crops produced by the scenarios were reduced but not entirely removed. Our results indicate that spatial resolution of climate change scenarios can be an important uncertainty in climate change impact assessments, depending on the crop and management conditions.     

A Climate Change Database for Biological Assessments in the Southeastern United States: Development and Case Study

A regional database containing historical time series and climate change scenarios for the Southeastern United States was developed for the U.S.D.A. Forest Service Southern Global Change Program (SGCP). Daily historical values of maximum temperature, minimum temperature and precipitation and empirically derived estimates of vapor pressure deficit and solar radiation across a uniform 1° latitude × 1° longitude grid were obtained. Climate change scenarios of temperature, precipitation, vapor pressure deficit and solar radiation were generated using semi-empirical techniques which combined historical time series and simulation field summaries from GISS, GFDL, OSU and UKMO General Circulation Model (GCM) experiments. An internally consistent 1° latitude × 1° longitude climate change scenario database was produced in which vapor pressure deficit and solar radiation conditions were driven by the GCM temperature projections, but were not constrained to agree with GCM calculated radiation and humidity fields. Some of the unique characteristics of the database were illustrated through a case study featuring growing season and annual potential evapotranspiration (ET_p) estimates. Overall, the unconstrained scenarios produced smaller median ET_p changes from historical baseline conditions, with a smaller range of outcomes than those driven by GCM-directed scenarios. Collectively, the range of annual and growing season ET changes from baseline estimates in response to the unconstrained climate scenarios was +10% to +40%. No outlier responses were identified. ET_p changes driven by GCM-directed (constrained) UKMO radiation and humidity scenarios were on the order of +100%, resulting in the identification of some ET_p responses as statistical outliers. These response differences were attributed to differences between the constrained and unconstrained humidity scenarios.     

Climate Change and Floodplain Management in the United States

Federal agencies use flood frequency estimates to delineate flood risk, manage the National Flood Insurance Program, and ensure that Federal programs are economically efficient. The assumption behind traditional flood risk analysis is that climate is stationary, but anthropogenic climate change and better knowledge of interdecadal climate variability challenge the validity of the assumption. This paper reviews several alternative statistical models for flood risk estimation that do not assume climate stationarity. Some models require subjective judgement or presuppose an understanding of the causes of the underlying non-stationarity, which is problematic given our current knowledge of the interaction of climate and floods. Although currently out of favor, hydrometeorological models have been used for engineering design as alternatives to statistical models and could be adapted to different climate conditions. Floodplain managers should recognize the potentially greater uncertainty in flood risk estimation due to climate change and variability and try to incorporate the uncertainties into floodplain management decision-making and regulation.     

气候变化及其未来情景

论述了百余年来气候变化的事实及对未来情景的预估。1861年以来,全球平均温度升高了0.6±0.2℃。20世纪90年代是20世纪最暖的10a。近百年来,降水分布也发生了变化,大陆地区尤其是中高纬地区降水增加,非洲等一些地区降水减少。气候模式模拟表明:全球平均地表气温到2100年时将比1990年上升1.4￣5.8℃。21世纪全球平均降水将会增加,但大部分年平均降水增加的区域很可能同时出现大的年际变化。全球平均海平面到2100年时将比1990年上升0.09￣0.88m。北半球雪盖和海冰范围将进一步缩小。未来,若干极端事件发生的频率会增加。     

Towards the Construction of Climate Change Scenarios

Climate impacts assessments need regional scenarios of climate change for a wide range of projected emissions. General circulation models (GCMs) are the most promising approach to providing such information, but as yet there is considerable uncertainty in their regional projections and they are still too costly to run for a large number of emission scenarios. Simpler models have been used to estimate global-mean temperature changes under a range of scenarios. In this paper we investigate whether a fixed pattern from a GCM experiment scaled by global-mean temperature changes from a simple model provides an acceptable estimate of the regional climate change over a range of scenarios. Changes estimated using this approximate approach are evaluated by comparing them with results from ensembles of a coupled ocean-atmosphere model. Five specific emissions scenarios are considered. For increases in greenhouse gases only, the 'error' in annual mean temperature for the cases considered is smaller than the sampling error due to the model's internal variability. The method may break down for scenarios of stabilisation of concentrations, because the patterns change as the model approaches equilibrium. The inclusion of large local perturbations due to sulphate aerosols can lead to significant deviations of the temperature pattern from that obtained using greenhouse gases alone. Combining separate patterns for the responses to greenhouse gases and aerosols may improve the accuracy of approximation. Finally, the accuracy of the scaling approach is more difficult to assess for deriving changes in regional precipitation because many of the regional changes are not statistically significant in the climate change projections considered here. If precipitation changes are only marginally significant in other models, the apparent disagreement between different models may be as much due to sampling error as to genuine differences in model response.     

Spatial Scale Effects of Climate Scenarios on Simulated Cotton Production in the Southeastern U.S.A.

We examine the effect of climate scenarios generated using results from climate models of different spatial resolution on yields simulated by the deterministic cotton model GOSSYM for the southeastern U.S.A. Two related climate change scenarios were used: a coarse-scale scenario produced from results of a general circulation model (GCM) which also provided the boundary conditions to a regional climate model (RCM), from which a fine-scale scenario was constructed. Cotton model simulations were performed for three cases: climate change alone; climate change and elevatedCO₂; climate change, elevated CO₂ and adaptations to climate change. In general, significant differences in state-average projected yield changes between the coarse and fine-scale scenarios are found for these three cases. In the first two cases, different directions of change are found in some sub-regions. With adaptation, yields substantially increase for both climate scenarios, but more so for the coarse-scale scenario (30%domain-average increase). Under irrigation, yield change differences between the two climate scenarios are small in all three cases, and yields are higher under irrigation ( 35% domain-average increase with adaptation case) compared to dryland conditions. For the climate change alone case, differences in summer water-stress levels explain the contrasts in dryland yield patterns between the coarse and fine-scale climate scenarios.     

Vulnerability Assessment of the Maize and Sorghum Crops to Climate Change in Botswana

This study examines the sensitivity of maize and sorghum crops to global warming in Botswana, a country with arid climatic conditions and shortfalls in locally produced grain. The vulnerability of the maize and sorghum crops to climate change were studied using crop simulation models while climate change scenarios were generated from Global Circulation Models. Simulated yields indicated that rain-fed crop production under the observed climate was a small fraction of what could be produced under optimal conditions. The gap was attributed to both physical (especially lack of rain) and socio-economic constraints. Using the southern African core climate change scenario, simulated yields declined by 36% in the case of maize and 31% for sorghum in the sand veldt region. Yield reductions from thehard veldt region were in the order of 10% for both maize and sorghum. The growing season became shorter, the average reduction in days in the sand veldt region being 5 and 8 days for maize and sorghum respectively, and correspondingly, 3 and 4 days over the hard veldt region. The food security option currently followed in Botswana was found to be a good adaptive strategy under a changed climate.     

Comparison of Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change Calculated from High and Low Resolution Climate Change Scenarios: Part I. The Uncertainty Due to Spatial Scale

We investigated the effect of two different spatial scales of climate change scenarios on crop yields simulated by the EPIC crop model for corn, soybean, and wheat, in the central Great Plains of the United States. The effect of climate change alone was investigated in Part I. In Part II (Easterling et al., 2001) we considered the effects ofCO₂ fertilization effects and adaptation in addition to climate change. The scenarios were formed from five years of control and 2 ×CO₂ runs of a high resolution regional climate model (RegCM) and the same from an Australian coarse resolution general circulation model (GCM), which provided the initial and lateral boundary conditions for the regional model runs. We also investigated the effect of two different spatial resolutions of soil input parameters to the crop models. We found that for corn and soybean in the eastern part of the study area, significantly different mean yield changes were calculated depending on the scenario used. Changes in simulated dryland wheat yields in the western areas were very similar, regardless of the scale of the scenario. The spatial scale of soils had a strong effect on the spatial variance and pattern of yields across the study area, but less effect on the mean aggregated yields. We investigated what aspects of the differences in the scenarios were most important for explaining the different simulated yield responses. For instance, precipitation changes in June were most important for corn and soybean in the eastern CSIRO grid boxes. We establish the spatial scale of climate changescenarios as an important uncertainty for climate change impacts analysis.     

美国关于气候变化对国家安全影响的研究述评

近年来,美国关于气候变化对国家安全影响的研究成果频出。在概述其研究现状及主要成果的基础上,分析了美国在该领域研究的特点及其对我国开展相关研究的启示。美国关于气候变化影响国家安全的研究成果主要体现在围绕气候变化影响美国国家安全的方式、范围、程度以及美国的应对之策等几个方面展开了全面而深入的讨论。其突出特色是：第一,在研究理论和方法方面,与时俱进,转型较快;第二,在研究内容方面,既视野开阔,又有较强的针对性;第三,在研究水平上呈现逐步提高的趋势;第四,在研究体制上,形成官、学、研三位一体的联合研究体制。当前,我国的相关研究还处在起步阶段,在未来的研究中可以借鉴美国的一些有益经验。     

径流对区域气候变化的响应研究

利用汾河流域静乐站1970-2004年的气温、降水及径流资料,建立多元非线性回归模型,分析径流变化对区域气候变化的响应,结果表明,径流对降水的响应比气温敏感,且径流变化是气候因子和流域下垫面条件共同作用的结果.     

Estimates of the Climate Response to Aircraft CO2 and NO x Emissions Scenarios

A combination of linear response models is used to estimate the transient changes in the global means of carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration, surface temperature, and sea level due to aviation. Apart from CO₂, the forcing caused by ozone (O₃) changes due to nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions from aircraft is also considered. The model is applied to aviation using several CO₂ emissions scenarios, based on reported fuel consumption in the past and scenarios for the future, and corresponding NO_x emissions. Aviation CO₂ emissions from the past until 1995 enlarged the atmospheric CO₂ concentration by 1.4 ppmv (1.7% of the anthropogenic CO₂ increase since 1800). By 1995, the global mean surface temperature had increased by about 0.004 K, and the sea level had risen by 0.045 cm. In one scenario (Fa1), which assumes a threefold increase in aviation fuel consumption until 2050 and an annual increase rate of 1% thereafter until 2100, the model predicts a CO₂ concentration change of 13 ppmv by 2100, causing temperature increases of 0.01, 0.025, 0.05 K and sea level increases of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 cm in the years 2015, 2050, and 2100, respectively. For other recently published scenarios, the results range from 5 to 17 ppmv for CO₂ concentration increase in the year 2050, and 0.02 to 0.05 K for temperature increase. Under the assumption that present-day aircraft-induced O₃ changes cause an equilibrium surface warming of 0.05 K, the transient responses amount to 0.03 K in surface temperature for scenario Fa1 in 1995. The radiative forcing due to an aircraft-induced O₃ increase causes a larger temperature change than aircraft CO₂ forcing. Also, climate reacts more promptly to changes in O₃ than to changes in CO₂ emissions from aviation. Finally, even under the assumption of a rather small equilibrium temperature change from aircraft-induced O₃ (0.01 K for the 1992 NO_x emissions), a proposed new combustor technology which reduces specific NO_x emissions will cause a smaller temperature change during the next century than the standard technology does, despite a slightly enhanced fuel consumption. Regional effects are not considered here, but may be larger than the global mean responses.     

Uncertainties in Predicting Tourist Flows Under Scenarios of Climate Change

Tourism is largely dependent on climatic and natural resources. For example, “warmer'' climates generally constitute preferred environments for recreation and leisure, and natural resources such as fresh water, biodiversity, beaches or landscapes are essential preconditions for tourism. Global environmental change threatens these foundations of tourism through climate change, modifications of global biogeochemical cycles, land alteration, the loss of non-renewable resources, unsustainable use of renewable resources and loss of biodiversity (Gössling and Hall, 2005). This has raised concerns that tourist flows will change to the advantage or disadvantage of destinations, which is of major concern to local and national economies, as tourism is one of the largest economic sectors of the world, and of great importance for many destinations. In consequence, an increasing number of publications have sought to analyse travel flows in relation to climatic and socio-economic parameters (e.g. Lise and Tol, 2001; Maddison, 2001; Christ et al., 2003; Hamilton et al., 2003; Hamilton and Tol, 2004). The ultimate goal has been to develop scenarios for future travel flows, possibly including “most at risk destinations'', both in economic and in environmental terms. Such scenarios are meant to help the tourist industry in planning future operations, and they are of importance in developing plans for adaptation.     

三江源区植被变化及其对气候变化的响应

利用卫星反演获取的归一化植被指数（NDVI）以及同期气象要素资料,分析了1982-2000年三江源区植被的时间和空间变化及其对气候变化的响应。结果表明：在三江源的大部分地区,植被生长状况趋于变差或基本不变;20世纪90年代,除夏季外,其他季节植被状况趋于恶化;与降水量相比,植被长势对气温变化的响应更为敏感。     

新疆地区21世纪气候变化分析

利用参与IPCC AR4的多个气候模式的模拟结果,分析了中国新疆地区21世纪气候变化情景.结果表明,在三种不同温室气体排放情景下,21世纪新疆地区升温明显、降水将进一步增加.到21世纪末(2091-2099年),新疆地区SRESA1B、SRESA2、SRESB1情景下年平均温度将分别增加4.2℃、5.0℃、2.7℃.SRESA1B、SRESA2情景下,在不同时期内,夏季、冬季温度上升幅度大于春季、秋季.在21世纪前半叶,新疆地区平均降水量增加幅度不明显,到21世纪末降水增加10%以上.整个21世纪,新疆地区在SRES情景下降水增加趋势分别为10%/100a、12%/100a、9%/100a.就各个季节的降水变化来看,模拟结果表明冬季降水增加幅度最大,春季次之;在同一时期内冬季降水增加幅度是其他季节的几倍.就区域来说,新疆中部地区21世纪降水增加幅度最大,但是温度增加幅度小于周围地区;北部地区温度、降水都将呈现明显的增加;新疆南部地区温度将明显升高.但是降水增加幅度不大.全球气候模式对较小区域尺度的模拟存在较大的不确定性,还需做深入的分析和研究.     

中国沿海响应气候变化的复杂性

在过去的一个世纪,中国海岸已明显观测到气候变暖和海平面上升所造成的危害。气候变化对中国海岸带的影响和海岸系统对气候变化的适应性具有明显的区域性差异。海岸自然条件复杂,海岸不同生态环境的自修复能力各异。人类活动对海岸带的影响巨大,在适应气候变化方面具有明显的能动性,适应能力受社会经济发展水平的制约,从而具有明显的区域特征。海岸系统与气候变化之间并不是简单的线性关系。未来气候变暖和海平面加速上升无疑将加大对海岸带的影响,但目前尚难以确定海岸生态系统的气候变化阈值。     

全球气候模式对宁夏区域未来气候变化的情景模拟分析

利用多个全球气候模式(GCM)的情景模拟结果分析只考虑温室气体效应的IS92a GG情景和同时考虑温室气体效应和硫化物气溶胶辐射效应的IS92aGS情景以及SRESA2、B2情景下宁夏区域21世纪地面气温和降水量的可能变化,并进行不确定性分析。气候基准时段(1961~1990年)模拟结果与观测资料的对比分析表明,GCM对宁夏气候具有一定的模拟能力;整体上讲,GCM对地面气温的模拟值偏低,对降水量的模拟值偏高,其中ECHAM4和HadCM3对宁夏基准时段地面气温和降水量的模拟结果与观测比较接近。各GCM模拟值的平均结果显示,4种温室气体排放情景下21世纪宁夏区域气温持续升高,至21世纪末宁夏升温幅度可达4~6℃,与全国平均的增温幅度大致相当;与升温趋势相应的是降水量的增加,但降水变化呈现出很大的波动性,至21世纪末宁夏的降水变化幅度可达10%~40%。各个GCM模拟的宁夏气候变化的总趋势是一致的,但各模式在不同情景下模拟结果的差异很大,存在较大的不确定性。     

生态系统对气候变化适应的辨识

针对气候变化对生态系统的影响,研究了确定生态系统影响阈值的有关科学问题,包括：气候变化对生态系统影响的阈值的定义;生态系统对气候变化的响应过程;生态系统对气候变化的适应性指标;生态系统对气候变化的适应性评价等。通过CEVSA模型和基于人工神经网络模型对中国生态系统的模拟和评价,初步结果显示,自然生态系统基本上处于基准态、轻度和中度不适应状态,目前模拟、评价的结果尚未发现生态系统不适应的情况。由SRES描述的B2和A2情景模拟结果初步对比显示,B2情景（大约升温3.2℃）对东北地区自然生态系统的影响更为明显,且大多数为正影响;A2情景（大约升温3.9℃）对华东地区自然生态系统有不利影响。     

Uncertainty of Climate Response to Natural and Anthropogenic Forcings Due to Different Land Use Scenarios

The A.M.Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics,Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS) climate model (CM) of intermediate complexity is extended by a spatially explicit terrestrial carbon cycle module.Numerical experiments with the IAP RAS CM are performed forced by the reconstructions of anthropogenic and natural forcings for the 16th to the 20th centuries and by combined SRES (Special Report on Emission Scenarios) A2-LUH (Land Use Harmonization) anthropogenic scenarios for the 21st century.Hereby,the impact of uncertainty in land-use scenarios on results of simulations with a coupled climate-carbon cycle model is tested.The simulations of the model realistically reproduced historical changes in carbon cycle characteristics.In the IAP RAS CM,climate warming reproduced in the 20th and 21st centuries enhanced terrestrial net primary production but terrestrial carbon uptake was suppressed due to an overcompensating increase in soil respiration.Around year 2100,the simulations the model forced by different land use scenarios diverged markedly,by about 70 Pg (C) in terms of biomass and soil carbon stock but they differed only by about 10 ppmv in terms of atmospheric carbon dioxide content.