scholarly journals Flooding Related Consequences of Climate Change on Canadian Cities and Flow Regulation Infrastructure

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayushi Gaur ◽  
Abhishek Gaur ◽  
Dai Yamazaki ◽  
Slobodan P. Simonovic

This study discusses the flooding related consequences of climate change on most populous Canadian cities and flow regulation infrastructure (FRI). The discussion is based on the aggregated results of historical and projected future flooding frequencies and flood timing as generated by Canada-wide hydrodynamic modelling in a previous study. Impact assessment on 100 most populous Canadian cities indicate that future flooding frequencies in some of the most populous cities such as Toronto and Montreal can be expected to increase from 100 (250) years to 15 (22) years by the end of the 21st century making these cities highest at risk to projected changes in flooding frequencies as a consequence of climate change. Overall 40–60% of the analyzed cities are found to be associated with future increases in flooding frequencies and associated increases in flood hazard and flood risk. The flooding related impacts of climate change on 1072 FRIs located across Canada are assessed both in terms of projected changes in future flooding frequencies and changes in flood timings. Results suggest that 40–50% of the FRIs especially those located in southern Ontario, western coastal regions, and northern regions of Canada can be expected to experience future increases in flooding frequencies. FRIs located in many of these regions are also projected to experience future changes in flood timing underlining that operating rules for those FRIs may need to be reassessed to make them resilient to changing climate.

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Helder Fraga ◽  
Marco Moriondo ◽  
Luisa Leolini ◽  
João A. Santos

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is an ancient traditional crop in the Mediterranean Basin. In the Mediterranean region, traditional olive orchards are distinguishable by their prevailing climatic conditions. Olive trees are indeed considered one of the most suitable and best-adapted species to the Mediterranean-type climate. However, new challenges are predicted to arise from climate change, threatening this traditional crop. The Mediterranean Basin is considered a climate change “hotspot,” as future projections hint at considerable warming and drying trends. Changes in olive tree suitability have already been reported over the last few decades. In this context, climate change may become particularly challenging for olive growers. The growing evidence for significant climate change in the upcoming decades urges adaptation measures to be taken. To effectively cope with the projected changes, both short and long-term adaptation strategies must be timely planned by the sector stakeholders and decision-makers to adapt for a warmer and dryer future. The current manuscript is devoted to illustrating the main impacts of climate change on olive tree cultivation in the Mediterranean Basin, by reviewing the most recent studies on this subject. Additionally, an analysis of possible adaptation strategies against the potentially negative impacts of climate change was also performed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez ◽  
John B Baumgartner ◽  
Linda J Beaumont ◽  
Jonathan Lenoir ◽  
David A Nipperess ◽  
...  

Urban forests (i.e. all vegetation present in urban areas), provide environmental and socio-economic benefits to more than half of the global population. Projected climate change threatens these benefits to society. Here, we assess vulnerability to climate change of 16,006 plant species present in the urban forests of 1,010 cities within 93 countries, using three vulnerability metrics: exposure, safety margin and risk. Exposure expresses the magnitude of projected changes in climate in a given area, safety margin measures species' sensitivity to climate change, and risk is the difference between exposure and safety margin. We identified 9,676 (60.5%) and 8,344 (52.1%) species exceeding their current climatic tolerance (i.e. safety margin) for mean annual temperature (MAT) and annual precipitation (AP), respectively. By 2050, 13,479 (84.2%) and 9,960 (62.2%) species are predicted to be at risk from projected changes in MAT and AP, respectively, with risk increasing in cities at lower latitudes. Our results can aid evaluation of the impacts of climate change on urban forests and identify the species most at risk. Considering future climates when selecting species for urban plantings will enhance the long-term societal benefits provided by urban forests, including their contribution to mitigating the magnitude and impacts of climate change.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ir. Mohd Zaki bin Mat Amin ◽  
Ali Ercan ◽  
Kei Ishida ◽  
M. Levent Kavvas ◽  
Z.Q. Chen ◽  
...  

In this study, a regional climate model was used to dynamically downscale 15 future climate projections from three GCMs covering four emission scenarios (SRES B1, A1FI, A1B, A2) based on Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 (CMIP3) datasets to 6-km horizontal resolution over the whole Peninsular Malaysia. Impacts of climate change in the 21st century on the precipitation, air temperature, and soil water storage were assessed covering ten watersheds and twelve coastal regions. Then, by coupling a physical hydrology model with the regional climate model, the impacts of the climate change on river flows were assessed at the outlets of ten watersheds in Peninsular Malaysia. It was found that the increase in the 30-year mean annual precipitation from 1970–2000 to 2070–2100 will vary from 17.1 to 36.3 percent among the ten watersheds, and from 22.9 to 45.4 percent among twelve coastal regions. The ensemble average of the basin-average annual mean air temperature will increase about 2.52 °C to 2.95 °C from 2010 to 2100. In comparison to the historical period, the change in the 30-year mean basin-average annual mean soil water storage over the ten watersheds will vary from 0.7 to 10.9 percent at the end of 21st century, and that over the twelve coastal regions will vary from −1.7 to 15.8 percent. Ensemble averages of the annual mean flows of the 15 projections show increasing trends for the 10 watersheds, especially in the second half of the 21st century. In comparison to the historical period, the change in the 30-year average annual mean flows will vary from −2.1 to 14.3 percent in the early 21st century, 4.4 to 23.8 percent in the middle 21st century, and 19.1 to 45.8 percent in the end of 21st century.


2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronwyn M. Gillanders ◽  
Travis S. Elsdon ◽  
Ian A. Halliday ◽  
Gregory P. Jenkins ◽  
Julie B. Robins ◽  
...  

Estuaries are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because changes in climatic and hydrologic variables that influence freshwater and marine systems will also affect estuaries. We review potential impacts of climate change on Australian estuaries and their fish. Geographic differences are likely because southern Australian climates are predicted to become warmer and drier, whereas northern regions may see increased precipitation. Environmental factors, including salinity gradients, suspended sediment, dissolved oxygen and nutrient concentrations, will be influenced by changing freshwater input and other climate variables. Potential impacts will vary depending on the geomorphology of the estuary and the level of build-up of sand bars across estuarine entrances. Changes to estuarine fish assemblages will depend on associated changes to salinity and estuarine-mouth morphology. Marine migrants may be severely affected by closure of estuarine mouths, depending on whether species ‘must’ use estuarine habitat and the level of migratory v. resident individuals. Depending on how fish in coastal waters locate estuaries, there may be reduced cues associated with estuarine mouths, particularly in southern Australia, potentially influencing abundance. In summary, climate change is expected to have major consequences for Australian estuaries and associated fish, although the nature of impacts will show significant regional variation.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1463
Author(s):  
Teresa R. Freitas ◽  
João A. Santos ◽  
Ana P. Silva ◽  
Hélder Fraga

The chestnut tree (Castanea spp.) is an important resource worldwide. It is cultivated due to the high value of its fruits and wood. The evolution between Castanea biodiversity and humans has resulted in the spread of chestnut genetic diversity. In 2019, the chestnut tree area worldwide was approximately 596 × 103 ha for fruit production (Southern Europe, Southwestern United States of America, and Asia). In Europe 311 × 103 t were produced. Five genetic poles can be identified: three in Greece, the northwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula, and the rest of the Mediterranean. Over the years, there have been some productivity changes, in part associated with climate change. Climate is considered one of the main drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem change. In the future, new challenges associated with climate change are expected, which could threaten this crop. It is essential to identify the impacts of climate change on chestnut trees, improving the current understanding of climate-tree interconnections. To deal with these projected changes adaptation strategies must be planned. This manuscript demonstrates the impacts of climate change on chestnut cultivation, reviewing the most recent studies on the subject. Furthermore, an analysis of possible adaptation strategies against the potentially negative impacts was studied.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hadush Meresa ◽  
Conor Murphy ◽  
Rowan Fealy

<p>In the coming decades, climate change will likely become a complex issue affecting hydrological regimes and flood hazard conditions. According to the IPCC reports, significant changes in atmospheric temperature, precipitation, humidity, and circulation are expected which may lead to extreme events including flood, droughts, heatwaves, heavy precipitation, and more intense cyclones. Although the effects of climate change on flood hazard indices is subject to large uncertainty, the evaluation of high-flows plays a crucial role in flood risk planning and extreme event management. With the advent of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), flood managers are interested to know how changes in catchment flood risk are expected to alter relative to previous assessments. Here we examine catchment based projected changes in flood quantiles and extreme high flow events for Irish catchments, selected to be representative of the range of hydrological conditions on the island. Conceptual hydrological models, together with different downscaling techniques are used to examine changes in flood risk projected from the CMIP6 archive for mid and end of century. Results will inform the range of plausible changes expected for policy relevant flood indices, the sensitivity of findings to use of different climate model ensembles and inform the tailoring of adaptation plans to account for the new generation of climate model outputs.</p>


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianting Zhu ◽  
Mark C. Stone ◽  
William Forsee

Potential changes in climate are expected to lead to future changes in the characteristics of precipitation events, including extreme rainfall intensity in most regions. In order for government agencies and design engineers to incorporate these trends and future changes into assessment and design processes, tools for planning and design should be capable of considering nonstationary climate conditions. In this work, potential changes are investigated in intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves, which are often used for assessment of extreme rainfall events, using historic data and future climate projections. An approach is proposed for calculating IDF curves that incorporates projected changes in rainfall intensity at a range of locations in the United States. The results elucidate strong regional patterns in projected changes in rainfall intensity, which are influenced by the rainfall characteristics of the region. Therefore, impacts of climate change on extreme hydrologic events will be highly regional and thus such assessments should be performed for specific project locations.


Author(s):  
J. W. Cabrera Cabrera ◽  
L. F. Castillo Navarro

Abstract. Possible effects of climate change on floods magnitude and effects are discussed in this document based on existing data and projected changes in precipitation until 2099. This methodology is applied to Matucana Village, which suffers the effects of floods and debris flows. First, historical peak precipitation, fitted to Gumbel distribution, was used, After that, percentage projected changes of precipitation were used to obtain the new mean precipitation to each period 2010–2039, 2040–2069 and 2070–2099; these mean precipitations define a new Gumbel distribution for every time period. Then, projected maximal precipitations to 100 years of return period are estimated and the corresponding peak flow hydrographs were built. Finally, hazard maps are plotted. This application is possible because Matucana is located in a climatologically homogeneous basin. The final results suggest an important increase in magnitude and affected area by floods in the next 90 years under the A1FI emission scenario.


Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Chisholm ◽  
Tracey Talbot ◽  
William Appleby ◽  
Benita Tam ◽  
Robin Rong

A scientific scenario paper was prepared ahead of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) 2050 International Symposium to review and summarize possible weather-related and sea-level changes within the GOM as a result of climate change. It is projected that the GOM will experience warming temperatures, continued sea-level rise, and changes to storm characteristics and related elements such as precipitation and waves in the intermediate term, by approximately 2050. Coastal communities within the GOM region are particularly vulnerable to the anticipated impacts of climate change. This article aims to provide context on some of the consequential impacts that may occur from the changes projected within the area.


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