Impacts Of Climate Change And Climate Variability On Hydrological Regimes

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

This volume contains 117 reviewed papers from over 30 countries, published in English, French and Spanish, which reflect both international dimension of FRIEND and the key challenges facing hydrologists in the 21st century.

This volume arises from the work of the International Geographical Union Working Group on Regional Hydrological Response to Climate Change and Global Warming under the chairmanship of Professor Changming Liu (1992-96). The book consists mostly of peer-reviewed papers delivered at the Working Group's first three scientific meetings held in Washington, D.C. (1992), Lhasa, Tibet (1993) and Moscow (1995). These have been supplemented by a few additional chapters that have been specifically commissioned in order to give a well-rounded coverage of the global and scientific aspects of the topic. As editors, we have sought to balance state-of-the-art reviews of methodology and regional research with detailed studies of specific countries and river basins. In the spirit of the IGU, we have devoted particular effort to encouraging contributions from scientists in the non-English-speaking world. These chapters provide valuable evidence of recent climatic change and predictions of future hydrological impacts from parts of the world where little detailed work has been conducted hitherto. They provide much valuable information that is new and interesting to an international audience and is otherwise very difficult or impossible to acquire. It is hoped that the present volume will be not only a record of current achievements, but also a stimulus to further hydrological research as the detail and spatial resolution of Global Climate Models improves. One notable aspect that emerges from a number of the contributions is that many, though by no means all, recent hydrological trends are in line with global warming predictions.

It is now widely accepted that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are causing higher global atmospheric temperatures. However, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the likely effects of such a temperature rise on climate, and even more about the impacts of climate change and variability on the world's hydrological regimes and socio-economic systems. Studying the effects of climate variability in the past can give clues as to possible future effects. This volume provides a comprehensive review of the effects of climate variability on hydrological and human systems in the Holocene (the last 10,000 years), in various parts of the world. The book concentrates on the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea, western and central Europe, China, Japan, West and South Africa and the southwestern USA. This book will be of value to researchers and professionals in hydrology, climatology, geology and historical geography.

Extreme Hydrology and Climate Variability: Monitoring, Modelling, Adaptation and Mitigation is a compilation of contributions by experts from around the world who discuss extreme hydrology topics, from monitoring, to modeling and management. With extreme climatic and hydrologic events becoming so frequent, this book is a critical source, adding knowledge to the science of extreme hydrology. Topics covered include hydrometeorology monitoring, climate variability and trends, hydrological variability and trends, landscape dynamics, droughts, flood processes, and extreme events management, adaptation and mitigation. Each of the book's chapters provide background and theoretical foundations followed by approaches used and results of the applied studies. This book will be highly used by water resource managers and extreme event researchers who are interested in understanding the processes and teleconnectivity of large-scale climate dynamics and extreme events, predictability, simulation and intervention measures. Presents datasets used and methods followed to support the findings included, allowing readers to follow these steps in their own research Provides variable methodological approaches, thus giving the reader multiple hydrological modeling information to use in their work Includes a variety of case studies, thus making the context of the book relatable to everyday working situations for those studying extreme hydrology Discusses extreme event management, including adaption and mitigation

It is now widely accepted that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are causing higher global atmospheric temperatures. However, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the likely effects of such a temperature rise on climate, and even more about the impacts of climate change and variability on the world's hydrological regimes and socio-economic systems. Studying the effects of climate variability in the past can give clues as to possible future effects. This volume provides a comprehensive review of the effects of climate variability on hydrological and human systems in the Holocene (the last 10,000 years), in various parts of the world. The book concentrates on the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea, western and central Europe, China, Japan, West and South Africa and the southwestern USA. This book will be of value to researchers and professionals in hydrology, climatology, geology and historical geography.

Hydrology and Global Environmental Change presents the hydrological contribution to, and consequences of, global environmental change. Assuming little or no prior knowledge on the part of the reader, the book looks at the main processes of global environmental change - global scale processes, large regional processes, repetitive processes - and how the hydrological cycle, processes and regimes impact on GEC and vice-versa.