Understanding The Hydrological Impacts Of Climate Variability And Climate Change Based On Numerical Modeling And Observations

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.

An in-depth overview of the role of the hydrological cycle within the climate system, including climate change impacts on hydrological reserves and fluxes, and the controls of terrestrial hydrology on regional and global climatology. Table of contents : 1. The Role of the Hydrological Cycle in the Climate System 2. Evaporation 3. Physics of Evaporation and Atmospheric Boundary Layers Over Land 4. Precipitation Physics and Rainfall Observation 5. Land Surface Hydrology 6. Land Surface Schemes and Climate Models 7. Arctic and Snow Hydrology 8. Dynamics of Glaciers, Ice Sheets and Global Sea Level 9. Feedback Mechanisms : Precipitation and Soil Moisture 10. Feedback Mechanisms : Land Use, Hydrology and Carbon 11. Palaeohydrology : An Introduction 12. Groundwater Palaeohydrology 13. Global Warming and the Acceleration of the Hydrological Cycle 14. Climate Change and Hydrological Impact Studies 15. Remote Sensing for Hydrological Studies

During the last several decades, Earth´s climate has undergone significant changes due to anthropogenic global warming, and feedbacks to the water cycle. Therefore, persistent efforts are required to improve our understanding of hydrological processes and to engage in efficient water management strategies that explicitly consider changing environmental conditions. The twenty-four contributions in this book have broadly addressed topics across four major research areas: (1) Climate and land-use change impacts on hydrological processes, (2) hydrological trends and causality analysis faced in hydrology, (3) hydrological model simulations and predictions, and (4) reviews on water prices and climate extremes. The broad spectrum of international contributions to the Special Issue indicates that climate change impacts on water resources analysis attracts global attention. We hope that the collection of articles presented here can provide scientists, policymakers and stakeholders alike with insights that support sustainable decision-making in the face of climate change and increasingly scarce environmental resources.

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.