Last Updated:
February 28, 2007

GCRIO Program Overview

Library 
Our extensive collection of documents.

Privacy Policy

Archives of the
Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 9, NUMBER 7, JULY 1996

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
IMPACTS: IMPACTS ON HYDROLOGY

Item #d96jul22

"The Great Lakes Diversion at Chicago and Its Implications for Climate Change," S.A. Changnon (Changnon Climatologist, Mahomet IL 61853), M.H. Glantz, Clim. Change, 32(2), 199-214, Feb. 1996.

In 1900 the city of Chicago began diverting water from Lake Michigan to move its sewage down the Illinois River, launching a series of continuing legal challenges to Illinois from the federal government, various Great Lake states, and Canada. This study uses periods of low lake levels during dry periods since 1900 as analogs for what might occur as a result of climate change from an enhanced greenhouse effect. Changing socioeconomic factors will likely cause increased water use and new priorities for water use, and future lower lake levels will lead to conflicts related to existing and proposed diversions—conflicts that will be exacerbated by the consequences of global warming.

Item #d96jul23

"Effects of Climate Change on Water Supplies in Mountainous Snowmelt Regions," A. Rango (ARS, USDA, BARC-W, Bldg. 007, Rm. 104, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville MD 20705), World Resour. Rev., 7(3), 315-325, Sep. 1995.

Snowmelt runoff supplies a surprisingly large part of the water supply in mountainous regions. In model simulations of a 4-5° C warming, the beginning of snowmelt in North America advances by about a month and runoff shifts from the summer to the winter, with winter runoff sometimes doubling. Runoff in April and May, when water demands are low, is increased at the expense of large decreases in June and July when water demands are high.

Item #d96jul24

"Greenhouse Hydrology," R.L. Wilby (Dept. Geog., Univ. Derby, Kedleston Rd., Derby DE22 1GB, UK), Prog. Phys. Geog., 19(3), 351-369, Sep. 1995.

Analyzes the potential sensitivity of water resources in the U.K. to climatic change, using the anomalous climate and river flows of the 1988-1992 drought as an analogy. Discusses the hydrological processes at three model scales with reference to global hydrology, regional downscaling and catchment-scale responses.

Item #d96jul25

"The Impact of Climate Change on the River Rhine: A Scenario Study," J. Kwadijk (Dept. Phys. Geog., Univ. Utrecht, POB 80.115, 308 TC Utrecht, Neth.), J. Rotmans, Clim. Change, 30(4), 397-425, Aug. 1995.

Couples a climate assessment model and a water balance model to yield estimates of impacts, which must be regarded as "best guesses" due to large uncertainties. Changes in annual water availability are small; the Rhine changes from a combined snowmelt-rainfed river to an almost entirely rainfed river. The difference between the large average discharge in winter and small average discharge in autumn increases, especially in the Alpine part of the basin, and the frequency of both low- and high-flow events in the downstream part of the River may increase. Changes could be larger than worst-case scenarios used by Dutch agencies.

Item #d96jul26

"Climate Change and the History of the Middle East," A.S. Issar (Water Resour. Res. Ctr., Sede Boker Campus, Ben-Gurion Univ. of the Negev, 84990 Israel), American Scientist, 83, 350-355, July-Aug. 1995.

Reports on continuing research on the interaction between climate and historical developments in the Middle East over the past 5,000 years, to see what lessons for the future may emerge. This history may provide a unique opportunity for understanding the impact of climate change in other parts of the globe. Located in an intermediate zone between the arid and humid belts of the world, the area's climatic history is known to have varied considerably during the past 10,000 years; and the region has the benefit of a rich archeological and historical record. The desiccation likely to strike many Mediterranean areas in a warming climate might be offset by restoration of the vegetation that once covered vast expanses of semi-arid zones, but much more hydrological research must precede such an effort.

Item #d96jul27

"High Latitude River Runoff in a Doubled CO₂ Climate," S.C. Van Blarcum (U.S. Air Force, 16 OSS/OGSW Hurlburt Field FL 32544), J.R. Miller, G.L. Russell, ibid., 30(1), 7-26, May 1995.

Uses a global atmospheric model to calculate the monthly river flow for nine major high-latitude rivers in North America and Asia. Mean annual precipitation and river flow increase for all rivers, with increased outflow at the mouths beginning earlier in spring and maximum outflow occurring about one month sooner due to earlier snowmelt. Snowmass decreases for the Yukon and Mackenzie Rivers in North America and for rivers in northwestern Asia, but increases for rivers in northeastern Asia.

Item #d96jul28

"Effects of a 2 ´ CO₂ Climate on Two Large Lake Systems: Pyramid Lake, Nevada, and Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming," S.W. Hostetler (USGS, ERL-C, 200 SW 35th St., Corvallis OR 97330), F. Giorgi, Global & Planetary Change, 10(1-4), 43-54, Apr. 1995.

The two lakes differ in settings and physical characteristics. Pyramid Lake, a warm, monomictic, closed basin lake is in a warm, arid region. Yellowstone Lake, a cold, dimectic open lake, is fed by numerous tributaries at high altitude. For both lakes, a lake temperature model shows that although evaporation increases, net water supplied also goes up from greater precipitation. However, other changes contrast such that the water quality and productivity may decline in Pyramid Lake but increase in Yellowstone Lake.

Item #d96jul29

"The Impact of Global Climate Anthropogenic Changes on Runoff in the Yenisei River Basin," A.I. Shiklomanov (Russian Arctic & Antarctic Sci. Res. Inst.), Russian Meteor. & Hydrol., No. 2, 68-75, 1994.

Presents long-term observations on hydrometeorological characteristics for the 1980s and preliminary results on variations in runoff due to temperature increases of 1-2° C and 3-4° C. Paleoclimatic reconstructions of the past warm epoch are assumed as scenarios for the future.