Evidence that Recent Warming is Reducing Upper Colorado River Flows

Earth Interactions

Gregory J.McCabe¹ 

关键词: Hydrology;    Hydrometeorology;    Water budget;    Climate variability;   

DOI  :  10.1175/EI-D-17-0007.1

学科分类：地球科学(综合)

来源: American Geophysical Union

【 摘 要 】

AbstractThe upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) is one of the primary sources of water for the western United States, and increasing temperatures likely will elevate the risk of reduced water supply in the basin. Although variability in water-year precipitation explains more of the variability in water-year UCRB streamflow than water-year UCRB temperature, since the late 1980s, increases in temperature in the UCRB have caused a substantial reduction in UCRB runoff efficiency (the ratio of streamflow to precipitation). These reductions in flow because of increasing temperatures are the largest documented temperature-related reductions since record keeping began. Increases in UCRB temperature over the past three decades have resulted in a mean UCRB water-year streamflow departure of −1306 million m3 (or −7% of mean water-year streamflow). Additionally, warm-season (April through September) temperature has had a larger effect on variability in water-year UCRB streamflow than the cool-season (October through Ma...

【 授权许可】

Unknown