Assessing the effects of land cover and future climate conditions on the provision of hydrological services in a medium‐sized watershed of Portugal

The separated and combined effects of land‐cover scenarios and future climate on the provision of hydrological services were evaluated in Vez watershed, northern Portugal. Soil and Water Assessment Tool was calibrated against daily discharge, sediments and nitrates, with good agreements between model predictions and field observations. Four hypothetical land‐cover scenarios were applied under current climate conditions (eucalyptus/pine, oak, agriculture/vine and low vegetation). A statistical downscaling of four General Circulation Models, bias‐corrected with ground observations, was carried out for 2021–2040 and 2041–2060, using representative concentration pathway 4.5 scenario. Also, the combined effects of future climate conditions were evaluated under eucalyptus/pine and agriculture/vine scenario. Results for land cover revealed that eucalyptus/pine scenario reduced by 7% the annual water quantity and up to 17% in the summer period. Although climate change has only a modest effect on the reduction of the total annual discharge (?7%), the effect on the water levels during summer was more pronounced, between ?15% and ?38%. This study shows that climate change can affect the provision of hydrological services by reducing dry season flows and by increasing flood risks during the wet months. Regarding the combined effects, future climate may reduce the low flows, which can be aggravated with eucalyptus/pine scenario. In turn, peak flows and soil erosion can be offset. Future climate may increase soil erosion and nitrate concentration, which can be aggravated with agriculture scenario. Results moreover emphasize the need to consider both climate and land‐cover impacts in adaptation and land management options at the watershed scale. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The long-term trend of Bohai Sea ice in different emission scenarios

Based on a coupled ocean-sea ice model, this study investigates how changes in the mean state of the atmosphere in different CO_2 emission scenarios(RCP 8.5, 6.0, 4.5 and 2.6) may affect the sea ice in the Bohai Sea, China,especially in the Liaodong Bay, the largest bay in the Bohai Sea. In the RCP 8.5 scenario, an abrupt change of the atmospheric state happens around 2070. Due to the abrupt change, wintertime sea ice of the Liaodong Bay can be divided into 3 periods: a mild decreasing period(2021–2060), in which the sea ice severity weakens at a nearconstant rate; a rapid decreasing period(2061–2080), in which the sea ice severity drops dramatically; and a stabilized period(2081–2100). During 2021–2060, the dates of first ice are approximately unchanged, suggesting that the onset of sea ice is probably determined by a cold-air event and is not sensitive to the mean state of the atmosphere. The mean and maximum sea ice thickness in the Liaodong Bay is relatively stable before 2060, and then drops rapidly in the following decade. Different from the RCP 8.5 scenario, atmospheric state changes smoothly in the RCP 6.0, 4.5 and 2.6 scenarios. In the RCP 6.0 scenario, the sea ice severity in the Bohai Sea weakens with time to the end of the twenty-first century. In the RCP 4.5 scenario, the sea ice severity weakens with time until reaching a stable state around the 2070 s. In the RCP 2.6 scenario, the sea ice severity weakens until the2040 s, stabilizes from then, and starts intensifying after the 2080 s. The sea ice condition in the other bays of the Bohai Sea is also discussed under the four CO_2 emissions scenarios. Among atmospheric factors, air temperature is the leading one for the decline of the sea ice extent. Specific humidity also plays an important role in the four scenarios. The surface downward shortwave/longwave radiation and meridional wind only matter in certain scenarios, while effects from the zonal wind and precipitation are negligible.     

A laboratory study on capillary sealing efficiency of Iranian shale and anhydrite caprocks

Caprock has the most important role in the long term safety of formation gas storage. The caprocks trap fluid accumulated beneath, contribute to lateral migration of this fluid and impede its upward migration. The rapid upward passage of invasive plumes due to buoyancy pressure is prevented by capillary pressure within these seal rocks. In the present study, two main seal rocks, from the Zagros basin in the southwest of Iran, a shale core sample of Asmari formation and an anhydrite core sample of Gachsaran formation, were provided. Absolute permeabilities of shale and anhydrite cores, considering the Klinkenberg effect, were measured as 6.09 × 10⁻¹⁸ and 0.89 × 10⁻¹⁸ m², respectively. Capillary sealing efficiency of the cores was investigated using gas breakthrough experiments. To do so, two distinct techniques including step by step and residual capillary pressure approaches were performed, using carbon dioxide, nitrogen and methane gases at temperatures of 70 and 90 °C, under confining pressures in the range 24.13–37.92 MPa. In the first technique, it was found that capillary breakthrough pressure of the cores varies in the range from 2.76 to 34.34 MPa. Moreover, the measurements indicated that after capillary breakthrough, gas effective permeabilities lie in range 1.85 × 10⁻²¹ – 1.66 × 10⁻¹⁹ m². In the second technique, the minimum capillary displacement pressure of shale varied from 0.66 to 1.45 MPa with the maximum effective permeability around 7.76 × 10⁻²¹ – 6.69 × 10⁻²⁰ m². The results indicate that anhydrite caprock of the Gachsaran formation provides proper capillary sealing efficacy, suitable for long term storage of the injected CO₂ plumes, due to its higher capillary breakthrough pressure and lower gas effective permeability.     

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.     

Steric sea level change in twentieth century historical climate simulation and IPCC-RCP8.5 scenario projection: A comparison of two versions of FGOALS model

To reveal the steric sea level change in 20th century historical climate simulations and future climate change projections under the IPCC’s Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenario, the results of two versions of LASG/IAP’s Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model (FGOALS) are analyzed. Both models reasonably reproduce the mean dynamic sea level features, with a spatial pattern correlation coefficient of 0.97 with the observation. Characteristics of steric sea level changes in the 20th century historical climate simulations and RCP8.5 scenario projections are investigated. The results show that, in the 20th century, negative trends covered most parts of the global ocean. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, global-averaged steric sea level exhibits a pronounced rising trend throughout the 21st century and the general rising trend appears in most parts of the global ocean. The magnitude of the changes in the 21st century is much larger than that in the 20th century. By the year 2100, the global-averaged steric sea level anomaly is 18 cm and 10 cm relative to the year 1850 in the second spectral version of FGOALS (FGOALS-s2) and the second grid-point version of FGOALS (FGOALS-g2), respectively. The separate contribution of the thermosteric and halosteric components from various ocean layers is further evaluated. In the 20th century, the steric sea level changes in FGOALS-s2 (FGOALS-g2) are largely attributed to the thermosteric (halosteric) component relative to the pre-industrial control run. In contrast, in the 21st century, the thermosteric component, mainly from the upper 1000 m, dominates the steric sea level change in both models under the RCP8.5 scenario. In addition, the steric sea level change in the marginal sea of China is attributed to the thermosteric component.     

中等排放情景下中国未来不同强度降雨对总降雨贡献的区域差异（2006―2100年）

采用RCP6.0中等排放情景下2006―2100年WRF 30 km×30 km日值降雨数据,根据中国气象局颁布的降雨强度等级划分标准,探究了中国不同强度降雨及其对总降雨贡献的变化趋势的空间差异特征。结果表明：1）在雨量上,中等排放情景下2006―2100年中国不同强度降雨呈现出不同的空间分异格局。小雨和中雨自东北向西南呈“高―低―高”的三块式空间分布特征;大雨、暴雨、大暴雨和总暴雨均呈“东南高,西北低”的分异格局;特大暴雨仅东南沿海的部分地区分布较多;总降雨呈“南方高,北方次之,西北低”的空间分异格局。2）在雨量贡献率上,强降雨对总降雨的贡献率普遍存在“东南高,西北低”特征,而弱降雨对总降雨的贡献率恰恰相反;不同强度暴雨对总暴雨的贡献率也有类似分布特征。3）在雨量变化趋势上,中国不同强度降雨变化趋势呈现出不同的空间分异格局,但强降雨呈增加趋势的区域显著多于呈减少趋势的区域。4）在雨量贡献率变化趋势上,强（弱）降雨对总降雨的贡献率呈增加（减少）趋势的区域占主导,强降雨对总降雨的贡献率呈增加趋势的地区明显多于弱降雨。5）在不同强度暴雨对总暴雨贡献率的变化趋势上,大暴雨和特大暴雨对总暴雨的贡献率呈增加趋势的区域明显多于暴雨。预估结果表明,中国东部降雨在朝着极端化方向发展。     

长江流域气候变化高分辨率模拟与RCP4.5情景下的预估

基于长江流域142个气象站1986—2005年月降水和气温数据,评估由MPI-ESM-LR模式驱动的CCLM区域气候模式对长江流域气温和降水的模拟能力,并采用EDCDF法对气温和降水预估数据进行偏差校正。结果表明：该区域气候模式能较好地模拟出长江流域平均气温的季节变化和空间分布特征,但模拟值无论在季节还是年际尺度上均高于观测值。对降水而言,该模式不能较好地模拟出降水的季节分布特征,导致春季、冬季及年模拟值高于观测值,而夏季和秋季模拟值低于观测值。总体而言,该模式对气温的模拟效果相对较好。偏差校正后的预估结果表明：在RCP4.5情景下,长江流域未来（2016—2035年）平均气温相对于基准期（1986—2005年）将升高0.66℃,年降水量将减少2.2%。     

RCP4.5情景下中国人口对高温暴露度预估研究

基于CMIP5的逐日最高温度模拟资料、GGI情景数据库逐年代人口数据,在RCP4.5情景下,以对应栅格高温日数与人口数量的乘积作为人口对高温的暴露度指标,通过多模式集合平均预估未来中国人口对不同强度高温的暴露度变化。结果表明：相比于基准时段（1981-2010年）,中国人口对高温和强危害性高温的暴露度从2021-2040年开始明显增加,至2081-2100年暴露度分别增加了5.7倍和17.5倍;除了中国西部部分地区外,全国大部地区人群均受高温的影响,在21世纪中后期中东部大部人口对高温的暴露度超过10.0×10⁶人?d;相比基准时段,随着年代的增长,中国人口对强危害性高温的暴露度在范围和强度上均有明显增加;2081-2100年,人口对高温和强危害性高温的暴露度增幅减缓。从气象地理区域上看,未来各时段人口对高温、强危害性高温的暴露度均有一定程度增加,但增加明显的区域主要集中在华北、黄淮、江南和江淮地区,华南地区对强危害性高温的暴露度增幅较小。高温日数变化对全国人口对高温暴露度的变化所产生的作用最明显。多模式集合的预估结果可以为防控未来高温风险提供重要的参考价值。     

不同排放情景下鄂尔多斯沙漠化风险预估

气候变化可以对沙漠化的扩张和逆转产生影响,综合预估未来多气候情景下沙漠化风险是制定防沙治沙策略的基础依据。基于鄂尔多斯1981—2015年NDVI数据和气候数据,利用最小二乘法对各年NDVI值、年降水量和年积温构成的时间序列进行线性倾向估计,对每个像元的值进行线性回归模型拟合,获取了未来35 a不同气候情景下的NDVI预测值,并在IPCC提出的4种气候变化情景下预测沙漠化风险状况,结果表明:(1)鄂尔多斯未来35 a沙漠化风险呈西北高、东南低的特点;(2)从气候变化情景看,在RCP8.5情景下,鄂尔多斯未来35 a的沙漠化风险最大,RCP6.0情景下风险最小;(3)从未来不同时期看,除RCP4.5情景外,未来15 a鄂尔多斯沙漠化风险最大,未来25~35 a沙漠化风险相对较小。     

Projected Shifts in Kppen Climate Zones over China and Their Temporal Evolution in CMIP5 Multi-Model Simulations

Previous studies have examined the projected climate types in China by 2100. This study identified the emergence time of climate shifts at a 1?scale over China from 1990 to 2100 and investigated the temporal evolution of K o¨ppen–Geiger climate classifications computed from CMIP5 multi-model outputs. Climate shifts were detected in transition regions(7%–8% of China's land area) by 2010, including rapid replacement of mixed forest(Dwb) by deciduous forest(Dwa) over Northeast China, strong shrinkage of alpine climate type(ET) on the Tibetan Plateau, weak northward expansion of subtropical winterdry climate(Cwa) over Southeast China, and contraction of oceanic climate(Cwb) in Southwest China. Under all future RCP(Representative Concentration Pathway) scenarios, the reduction of Dwb in Northeast China and ET on the Tibetan Plateau was projected to accelerate substantially during 2010–30, and half of the total area occupied by ET in 1990 was projected to be redistributed by 2040. Under the most severe scenario(RCP8.5), sub-polar continental winter dry climate over Northeast China would disappear by 2040–50, ET on the Tibetan Plateau would disappear by 2070, and the climate types in 35.9%and 50.8% of China's land area would change by 2050 and 2100, respectively. The results presented in this paper indicate imperative impacts of anthropogenic climate change on China's ecoregions in future decades.