Response of snow-dependent hydrologic extremes to continued global warming.

ABSTRACT: Snow accumulation is critical for water availability in the northern hemisphere ^1,2, raising concern that global warming could have important impacts on natural and human systems in snow-dependent regions ^1,3. Although regional hydrologic changes have been observed (e.g., ^1,3-5), the time of emergence of extreme changes in snow accumulation and melt remains a key unknown for assessing climate change impacts ^3,6,7. We find that the CMIP5 global climate model ensemble exhibits an imminent shift towards low snow years in the northern hemisphere, with areas of western North America, northeastern Europe, and the Greater Himalaya showing the strongest emergence during the near-term decades and at 2°C global warming. The occurrence of extremely low snow

SUBMITTER: Diffenbaugh NS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3760585 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature