scholarly journals Observed climate change in Australian marine and freshwater environments

2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice M. Lough ◽  
Alistair J. Hobday
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Average Rainfall ◽  
Terrestrial Environments ◽  
Recent Trends

The consequences of human activities increasing concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases are already being felt in marine and terrestrial environments. More energy has been trapped in the global climate system, resulting in warming of land and sea temperatures. About 30% of the extra atmospheric carbon dioxide has been absorbed by the oceans, increasing their acidity. Thermal expansion and some melting of land-based ice have caused sea level to rise. Significant climate changes have now been observed across Australia and its coastal seas. The clearest signal is the warming of air and sea temperatures and the rates of warming have accelerated since the mid-20th century. Ocean warming has been higher than the global average around Australia, especially off south-eastern Australia. Changes in Australia’s hydrological regime are more difficult to differentiate from the high natural inter-annual variability. Recent trends towards drier winters in south-western Western Australia and part of southern Australia appear, however, to be largely attributable to human-induced climate change. Even without significant changes in average rainfall, warmer temperatures increase evaporative losses, enhance the intensity of recent droughts and reduce river flows. Sustained and coordinated monitoring of the physical environment, especially lacking for Australia’s freshwater ecosystems, is important to assess the magnitude and biological consequences of ongoing changes.

Droughts, floods and freshwater ecosystems: evaluating climate change impacts and developing adaptation strategies

2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Aldous ◽  
James Fitzsimons ◽  
Brian Richter ◽  
Leslie Bach
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia

Climate change is expected to have significant impacts on hydrologic regimes and freshwater ecosystems, and yet few basins have adequate numerical models to guide the development of freshwater climate adaptation strategies. Such strategies can build on existing freshwater conservation activities, and incorporate predicted climate change impacts. We illustrate this concept with three case studies. In the Upper Klamath Basin of the western USA, a shift in land management practices would buffer this landscape from a declining snowpack. In the Murray–Darling Basin of south-eastern Australia, identifying the requirements of flood-dependent natural values would better inform the delivery of environmental water in response to reduced runoff and less water. In the Savannah Basin of the south-eastern USA, dam managers are considering technological and engineering upgrades in response to more severe floods and droughts, which would also improve the implementation of recommended environmental flows. Even though the three case studies are in different landscapes, they all contain significant freshwater biodiversity values. These values are threatened by water allocation problems that will be exacerbated by climate change, and yet all provide opportunities for the development of effective climate adaptation strategies.

scholarly journals A trait-based approach to assess climate change sensitivity of freshwater invertebrates across Swedish ecoregions

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Sandin ◽  
Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber ◽  
Jens-Christian Svenning ◽  
Erik Jeppesen ◽  
Nikolai Friberg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Biological Data ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Measured Temperature ◽  
Buffer Strips

Abstract Freshwater habitats and organisms are among the most threatened on Earth, and freshwater ecosystems have been subject to large biodiversity losses. We developed a Climate Change Sensitivity (CCS) indicator based on trait information for a selection of stream- and lake-dwelling Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera taxa. We calculated the CCS scores based on ten species traits identified as sensitive to global climate change. We then assessed climate change sensitivity between the six main ecoregions of Sweden as well as the three Swedish regions based on Illies. This was done using biological data from 1, 382 stream and lake sites where we compared large-scale (ecoregional) patterns in climate change sensitivity with potential future exposure of these ecosystems to increased temperatures using ensemble-modelled future changes in air temperature. Current (1961~1990) measured temperature and ensemble-modelled future (2100) temperature showed an increase from the northernmost towards the southern ecoregions, whereas the predicted temperature change increased from south to north. The CCS indicator scores were highest in the two northernmost boreal ecoregions where we also can expect the largest global climate change-induced increase in temperature, indicating an unfortunate congruence of exposure and sensitivity to climate change. These results are of vital importance when planning and implementing management and conservation strategies in freshwater ecosystems, e.g., to mitigate increased temperatures using riparian buffer strips. We conclude that traits information on taxa specialization, e.g., in terms of feeding specialism or taxa having a preference for high altitudes as well as sensitivity to changes in temperature are important when assessing the risk from future global climate change to freshwater ecosystems.

scholarly journals Changes in Soil Carbon Sequestration during Woody Plant Encroachment in Arid Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 266-276
Author(s):  
Pratap Naikwade
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
Woody Encroachment ◽  
Organic C

Carbon sequestration is one of the most important and highly recommended measures for mitigating climate change. Soil organic carbon (SOC) has potential to sequester the largest amount of carbon (C) for the longest time period in the midst of the organic C sinks in terrestrial ecosystems of the earth. In recent years, apprehension of the role of soils as sink for carbon on a wide-ranging scale has become dynamic. From last 150 years, encroachment of trees and shrubs into grasslands and the ‘thicketization’ of savannas have been reported and is a global phenomenon. One possibly beneficial effect could be that the shrub and tree-dominated ecosystems will sequester more carbon and will be a buffer for elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. The question of what is impact of woody encroachment on soil carbon balance of an ecosystem has proved difficult to answer, and the results remain debatable. The magnitude and pattern of changes in the SOC with woody encroachment are exceedingly abstruse and varies from significant increases, to significant decreases to no net change in SOC. Impact of wood plant encroachment on carbon sequestration is discussed in this paper considering various studies with different results so it will lead to better understanding of the complex phenomenon. SOC sequestration is effective greenhouse gas mitigation strategy and a vital ecosystem service. Increasing SOC may helpful to mitigate negative effects of growing concentration of CO2 in atmosphere and may be advantageous in decelerating or reversal in global climate change rate.

Recent Trends, Issues, and Challenges in Water Resource Development and Global Climate Change

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Prakash Rao ◽  
Yogesh Patil
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Resource Development ◽  
Water Resource Development ◽  
Climatic Regime ◽  
Recent Trends

Climate change impacts are being felt in many parts of the world and have become an issue of major concern. Tropical countries particularly those in the Asian region are at greater risk and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as indicated by the report of IPCC. With regard to India there are several impacts forecast which could have adverse consequences on the natural resources and ecosystems of the country making them vulnerable and reducing their capacity to cope with a changing climatic regime. This introductory chapter of the book provides an insight to the recent trends, issues and challenges in water resource development in context to the global climate change.

scholarly journals Modelling plant invasion pathways in protected areas under climate change: implication for invasion management

Web Ecology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Jing Wang ◽  
Ji-Zhong Wan ◽  
Hong Qu ◽  
Zhi-Xiang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Plant Invasion ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Invasion Pathways ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Potential Factors

Abstract. Global climate change may enable invasive plant species (IPS) to invade protected areas (PAs), but plant invasion on a global scale has not yet been explicitly addressed. Here, we mapped the potential invasion pathways for IPS in PAs across the globe and explored potential factors determining the pathways of plant invasion under climate change. We used species distribution modelling to estimate the suitable habitats of 386 IPS and applied a corridor analysis to compute the potential pathways of IPS in PAs under climate change. Subsequently, we analysed the potential factors affecting the pathways in PAs. According to our results, the main potential pathways of IPS in PAs are in Europe, eastern Australia, New Zealand, southern Africa, and eastern regions of South America and are strongly influenced by changes in temperature and precipitation. Protected areas can play an important role in preventing and controlling the spread of IPS under climate change. This is due to the fact that measures are taken to monitor climate change in detail, to provide effective management near or inside PAs, and to control the introduction of IPS with a high capacity for natural dispersal. A review of conservation policies in PAs is urgently needed.

scholarly journals EFFECT OF THE REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE ON RUNOFF FROM THE LAKE ONEGO WATERSHED

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
L. E. Nazarova
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation

As a result of the statistical analysis of the meteorological and water balance data for Onego Lake watershed over the period 1950-2000, noticeable changes were detected. It was found that time series of annual air temperature, precipitation and evapotranspiration over 50-year period contains positive linear trends, but no change in total streamflow to the lake has so far followed. Potential changes in the regional climate and hydrological regime for the period 2000-2050 were estimated using the results of numerical modeling with the ECHAM4/OPYC3 model for two scenarios of the global climate change. The estimation of these data shows that a general tendency to increase of annual air temperature and precipitation will remain in the new climate Mean annual precipitation will increase about 30-50 mm, mean average annual air temperature for the next 50-years period will rise from 1.6 up to 2.7-3.0 °C. Our estimation shows that for both scenarios all water balance parameters, excluding river runoff, will increase.

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