Assessment Of The Impacts Of Climate Change On Mountain Hydrology

"Climate change is beginning to have effects on climate, weather and resource availability in ways that need to be anticipated when planning for the future. In particular, changes in rainfall patterns and temperature may impact the intensity or schedule of water availability. Also the retreat of tropical glaciers, the drying of unique Andean wetland ecosystems, as well as increased weather variability and weather extremes will affect water regulation. These changes have the potential to impact the energy and other sectors, such as agriculture, and could have broader economic effects.Anticipating the impacts of climate change is a new frontier. There are few examples of predictions of the impact of climate change on resource availability and even fewer examples of the applications of such predictions to planning for sustainable economic development. However, having access to an effective methodology would allow planners and policy makers to better plan for adaptation measures to address the consequences of climate change on the power and water sectors.This report presents a summary of the efforts to develop methodological tools for the assessment of climate impacts on surface hydrology in the Peruvian Andes. It is targeted to decision makers in Peru and in other countries to give them guidance on how to choose available and suitable tools and make an assessment of climate impacts on water regulation."

Mountain regions encompass nearly 24 percent of the total land surface of the earth and are home to approximately 12 percent of the world’s population. Their ecosystems play a critical role in sustaining human life both in the highlands and the lowlands. During recent years, resource use in high mountain areas has changed mainly in response to the globalization of the economy and increased world population. As a result, mountain regions are undergoing rapid environmental change, exploitation, and depletion of natural resources leading to ecological imbalances and economic unsustainability. Moreover, the changing climatic conditions have stressed mountain ecosystems through higher mean annual temperatures and the melting of glaciers and snow. Altered precipitation patterns have also had an impact. This book addresses these critical issues and looks at ways to stop the downward spiral of resource degradation, rural poverty, and food and livelihood insecurity in mountain regions. The book also discusses new and comprehensive approaches to mountain development that are needed to identify sustainable resource development practices, how to strengthen local institutions and knowledge systems, and how to increase the resilience between mountain environments and their inhabitants.

1. Predicting the Hydrological Effects of Climate Change.- Section I Sensitivity of the Global Hydrosphere Section Summary.- 2. An Introduction to Global Water Dynamics.- 3. Modelling the Biospheric Aspects of the Hydrological Cycle: Upscaling Processes and Downscaling Weather Data.- 4. Trends in Historical Steamflow Records.- Section II Regional Implications of Global Warming Section Summary.- 5. Hydrology of Northern North America under Global Warming.- 6. Current Evidence on the Likely Impact of Global Warming on Hydrological Regimes in Europe.- 7. The Impact of Climatic Warming on Hydrological Regimes in China: An Overview.- Section III Precipitation Change and Variability Section Summary.- 8. The Influence of Topography, Season and Circulation on Spatial Patterns of Daily Precipitation.- 9. Use of Artificial Neural Networks in Precipitation Forecasting.- 10. Generation of Sequences of Air Temperature and Precipitation for Estimation of the Hydrological Cycle in Changing Climatic Conditions in Poland.- 11. Some Aspects of Climatic Fluctuation at Four Stations on the Tibetan Plateau during the Last 40 Years.- 12. The Influences of the North Atlantic Oscillation, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation on Winter Precipitation in Ireland.- Section IV Impacts on Snow, Ice and Meltwaters Section Summary.- 13. Runoff Formation and Discharge Modelling of a Glacierized Basin in the Tianshan Mountains.- 14. Impact of Future Climate Change on Glacier Runoff and the Possibilities for Artificially Increasing Melt Water Runoff in the Aral Sea Basin.- 15. Glaciers and Snowcover in Central Asia as Indicators of Climate Change in the Earth-Ocean-Atmosphere System.- 16. Global Warming and the Trend toward Dryness in the Frigid High Mountains and Plateau of Western China.- Section V The Water Balance and Changing Regional Resources Section Summary.- 17. A Method to Assess the Effects of Climatic Warming on the Water Balance of Mountainous Regions.- 18. Sensitivity Analyses for the Impact of Global Warming on Water Resources in Wales.- 19. Potential Hydrological Responses to Climate Change in Australia.- 20. Dynamics of Stage Fluctuation in Yangzhouyongcuo Lake, Tibetan Plateau.- 21. Derivation of Surface Temperature, Albedo, and Radiative Fluxes over the Tibetan Plateau Based on Satellite Measurement.- 22. Climatic Warming and its Impact on the Water Resources of the Yalong River, China.- 23. The Probable Impact of Global Change on the Water Resources of Patagonia, Argentina.- 24. Long Term Trends in the Water Balance of Central Japan.- Conclusions.- 25. The Impact of Global Warming on Regional Hydrology and Future Research Priorities.

Since the hydrological cycle is so intricately linked to the climate system, any change in climate impacts the water cycle in terms of change in precipitation patterns, melting of snow and ice, increased evaporation, increased atmospheric water vapor and changes in soil moisture and run off. Consequently, climate change could result in floods in some areas and droughts in others resulting in varying availability and the quality of water affects the quality of life, food security and also health security. This book examines the impact of climate change on water as well as health.

This text is the first international and comprehensive discussion of the impacts of climatic fluctuations and climate change on water resources management. The book presents an overview of the impacts of climatic change/fluctuations on a wide variety of water resources sectors including river runoff, water quality, water temperature, water use and demand, reservoir management and water resource planning and management. The book is unique in that it then presents a series of case studies to both demonstrate the application of climate change impact assessment methodologies and to provide insights to catchment, river basin, and national scale impacts of climate change/fluctuations on the water resources of Africa, Europe, and North America. Audience: Researchers, scholars and students of hydrology and water management who are concerned with the issues of climate change as well as the climate change impact assessment community.

Examines the implications of possible climate changes and variability on both global and regional water resources.