Human-Induced Changes in the Hydrology of the Western United States
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory · United States Geological Survey · +4 more institutions
Abstract
Observations have shown that the hydrological cycle of the western United States changed significantly over the last half of the 20th century. We present a regional, multivariable climate change detection and attribution study, using a high-resolution hydrologic model forced by global climate models, focusing on the changes that have already affected this primarily arid region with a large and growing population. The results show that up to 60% of the climate-related trends of river flow, winter air temperature, and snow pack between 1950 and 1999 are human-induced. These results are robust to perturbation of study variates and methods. They portend, in conjunction with previous work, a coming crisis in water…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 142.53
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 22
Authors
12- TPT. P. BarnettCorresponding
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States Geological Survey, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, National Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Washington, University of California San Diego
- DWDavid W. Pierce
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States Geological Survey, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, National Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Washington, University of California San Diego
- HGHugo G. Hidalgo
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States Geological Survey, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, National Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Washington, University of California San Diego
- CBC. Bonfils
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States Geological Survey, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, National Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Washington, University of California San Diego
- BDBenjamin D. Santer
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States Geological Survey, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, National Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Washington, University of California San Diego
Topics & keywords
- Climate change
- Arid
- Environmental science
- Water cycle
- Snow
- Hydrology (agriculture)
- Climatology
- Population
- Clean water and sanitation