scholarly journals Trends in seasonal river flow regimes in the UK

2012 ◽  
Vol 475 ◽  
pp. 158-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hannaford ◽  
G. Buys
Keyword(s):  
River Flow ◽  
Flow Regimes ◽  
The Uk

scholarly journals Climate-driven changes in UK river flows

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Hannaford
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Flow Regimes ◽  
Trend Detection ◽  
Human Disturbances ◽  
Apparent Contradiction ◽  
River Flows ◽  
Climatic Trend ◽  
The Uk

There is a burgeoning international literature on hydro-climatic trend detection, motivated by the need to detect and interpret any emerging changes in river flows associated with anthropogenic climate change. The UK has a particularly strong evidence base in this area thanks to a well-developed monitoring programme and a wealth of studies published over the last 20 years. This paper reviews this research, with a view to assessing the evidence for climate change influences on UK river flow, including floods and droughts. This assessment is of international relevance given the scale of the research effort in the UK, a densely monitored and data-rich environment, but one with significant human disturbances to river flow regimes, as in many parts of the world. The review finds that changes can be detected in river flow regimes, some of which agree with future change projections, while others are in apparent contradiction. Observed changes generally cannot be attributed to climate change, largely due to the fact that river flow records are limited in length and the identification of short-term trends is confounded by natural variability. A UK ‘Benchmark’ network of near-natural catchments is an internationally significant example of an initiative to enable climate variability to be discerned from direct human disturbances (e.g. abstractions, dam construction). Generally, however, the problem of attribution has been tackled rather indirectly in the UK, as elsewhere, and more efforts are required to attribute change in a more rigorous manner.

Impact of Water Projects on River Flow Regimes and Water Quality in Huai River Basin

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 889-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongyong Zhang ◽  
Jun Xia ◽  
Tao Liang ◽  
Quanxi Shao
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Flow Regimes ◽  
Water Projects ◽  
Huai River Basin ◽  
Huai River

scholarly journals How will climate change modify river flow regimes in Europe?

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 325-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Schneider ◽  
C. L. R. Laizé ◽  
M. C. Acreman ◽  
M. Flörke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Flow Regimes ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Climate Zone ◽  
Natural Flow ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Boreal Climate

Abstract. Worldwide, flow regimes are being modified by various anthropogenic impacts and climate change induces an additional risk. Rising temperatures, declining snow cover and changing precipitation patterns will interact differently at different locations. Consequently, in distinct climate zones, unequal consequences can be expected in matters of water stress, flood risk, water quality, and food security. In particular, river ecosystems and their vital ecosystem services will be compromised as their species richness and composition have evolved over long time under natural flow conditions. This study aims at evaluating the exclusive impacts of climate change on river flow regimes in Europe. Various flow characteristics are taken into consideration and diverse dynamics are identified for each distinct climate zone in Europe. In order to simulate present-day natural flow regimes and future flow regimes under climate change, the global hydrology model WaterGAP3 is applied. All calculations for current and future conditions (2050s) are carried out on a 5' × 5' European grid. To address uncertainty, bias-corrected climate forcing data of three different global climate models are used to drive WaterGAP3. Finally, the hydrological alterations of different flow characteristics are quantified by the Indicators of Hydrological Alteration approach. Results of our analysis indicate that on the European scale, climate change can be expected to modify flow regimes remarkably. This is especially the case in the Mediterranean (due to drier conditions with reduced precipitation across the year) and in the boreal climate zone (due to reduced snowmelt, increased precipitation, and strong temperature rises). In the temperate climate zone, impacts increase from oceanic to continental. Regarding single flow characteristics, strongest impacts on timing were found for the boreal climate zone. This applies for both high and low flows. Flow magnitudes, in turn, will be predominantly altered in the Mediterranean but also in the Northern climates. At the end of this study, typical future flow regimes under climate change are illustrated for each climate zone.

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