SUPPORTING AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION IN UGANDA TO RESPOND TO CLIMATE RISK: LINKING CLIMATE CHANGE AND VARIABILITY WITH FARMER PERCEPTIONS

SUMMARYThis paper investigates farmers’ perceptions of climate change and variability in southwest Uganda and compares them with daily rainfall and temperature measurements from the 1960s to the present, including trends in daily rainfall and temperature, seasonality, changing probability of risk and intensity of rainfall events. Statistical analyses and modelling of rainfall and temperature were performed and contrasted with qualitative data collected through a semi-structured questionnaire. The fieldwork showed that farmers perceived regional climate to have changed in the past 20 years. In particular, farmers felt that temperature had increased and seasonality and variability had changed, with the first rainy season between March and May becoming more variable. Farmers reported detailed accounts of climate characteristics during specific years, with recent droughts in the late 1990s and late 2000s confirming local perceptions that there has been a shift in climate towards more variable conditions that are less favourable to production. There is a clear signal that temperature has been increasing in the climate data and, to a lesser extent, evidence that the reliability of rains in the first season has decreased slightly. However, rainfall measurements do not show a downward trend in rainfall amount, a significant shift in the intensity of rainfall events or in the start and end of the rainy seasons. We explore why there are some differences between farmers’ perceptions and the climate data due to different associations of risk between ideal rainfall by farmers, including the amount and distribution needed for production, meteorological definitions of normal rainfall or the long-term statistical mean and its variation, and the impact of higher temperatures. The paper reflects on the methodological approach and considers the implications for communicating information about risk to users in order to support agricultural innovation.

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Modeling the Impact of Climate Change on Hydrological Responses in the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia

10.21203/rs.2.19829/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Achenafi Teklay ◽

Yihun T. Dile ◽

Dereje H. Asfaw ◽

Haimanote K Bayabil ◽

Kibruyesfa Sisay

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Swat Model ◽

Climate Data ◽

Lake Tana ◽

Impact Of Climate Change ◽

Climate Change And Variability ◽

The Future ◽

The Impact ◽

Lake Tana Basin ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

Abstract BackgroundHydrologic systems have been changing due to the impact of climate change and climate variability. The impacts of climate change are set to increase in the future due to the rise of global warming. Quantifying the impact of climate change on the spatial and temporal hydrological processes is important for integrated water resource management. The Lake Tana basin, which is the source of the Upper Blue Nile, is vulnerable to climate change and variability. This study was carried out in the four major tributary watersheds of the Lake Tana basin: Gilgel Abay, Gumara, Ribb, and Megech. The climate model and hydrological model was used to (i) to evaluate the performance of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool for study watershed, (ii) to assess the future rainfall and temperature variability and change in the study watershed, and (iii) to examine the impact of climate change on future watershed hydrology. The study used dynamically downscaled climate data for the baseline (2010–2015) and future period (2046–2051) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). The climate scenarios were simulated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, with a 4-km horizontal resolution. A linear scaling method was applied to minimize model biases. The SWAT model was used to estimate the baseline and future hydrology using the bias-corrected climate data. ResultsThe performance of the SWAT model was ‘good’ to ‘very good’ for both the calibration and validation periods, with the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency values between 0.71 to 0.92. The projected changes in rainfall vary with seasons and watershed under both scenarios. On average, annual rainfall may increase by 9.8% and 21.2% under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. Minimum temperature may rise by 1.68 °C and 2.26 °C while maximum temperature may increase by 1.65 °C and 2.75 °C under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. The changes in climate may cause an increase in surface runoff by 20.9% and 46.5% under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively, while the evapotranspiration increase by 4.7% and 12.2% under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. ConclusionThe findings provide valuable insights to implement appropriate water management strategies to mitigate and adapt to the negative impacts of climate change and variability on the Lake Tana basin, and other regions which have similar agro-ecology.

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The impact of the climate change on discharge of Suir River Catchment (Ireland) under different climate scenarios

Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ◽

10.5194/nhess-6-387-2006 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 387-395 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

S. Wang ◽

R. McGrath ◽

T. Semmler ◽

C. Sweeney ◽

P. Nolan

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

General Circulation ◽

Hydrological Model ◽

Climate Model ◽

Global Climate ◽

Regional Climate ◽

General Circulation Models ◽

Climate Data ◽

River Catchment ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The impact of climate change on local discharge variability is investigated in the Suir River Catchment which is located in the south-east of Ireland. In this paper, the Rossby Centre Regional Atmospheric Model (RCA) is driven by different global climate data sets. For the past climate (1961–2000), the model is driven by ECMWF reanalysis (ERA-40) data as well as by the output of the general circulation models (GCM's) ECHAM4 and ECHAM5. For the future simulation (2021–2060), the model is driven by two GCM scenarios: ECHAM4_B2 and ECHAM5_A2. To investigate the influence of changed future climate on local discharge, the precipitation of the model output is used as input for the HBV hydrological model. The calibration and validation results of our ERA-40 driven present day simulation shows that the HBV model can reproduce the discharge fairly well, except the extreme discharge is systematically underestimated by about 15–20%. Altogether the application of a high resolution regional climate model in connection with a conceptual hydrological model is capable of capturing the local variability of river discharge for present-day climate using boundary values assimilated with observations such as ERA-40 data. However, using GCM data to drive RCA and HBV suggests, that there is still large uncertainty connected with the GCM formulation: For present day climate the validation of the ECHAM4 and ECHAM5 driven simulations indicates stronger discharge compared to the observations due to overprediction of precipitation, especially for the ECHAM5 driven simulation in the summer season. Whereas according to the ECHAM4_B2 scenario the discharge generally increases – most pronounced in the wet winter time, there are only slight increases in winter and considerable decreases in summer according to the ECHAM5_A2 scenario. This also leads to a different behaviour in the evolution of return levels of extreme discharge events: Strong increases according to the ECHAM4_B2 scenario and slight decreases according to the ECHAM5_A2 scenario.

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Application of SWAT in Hydrological Simulation of Complex Mountainous River Basin (Part II: Climate Change Impact Assessment)

Water ◽

10.3390/w13111548 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 1548

Author(s):

Suresh Marahatta ◽

Deepak Aryal ◽

Laxmi Prasad Devkota ◽

Utsav Bhattarai ◽

Dibesh Shrestha

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

River Basin ◽

Climate Models ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Swat Model ◽

Global Climate Models ◽

Climate Data ◽

The Future ◽

The Impact ◽

Mountainous River

This study aims at analysing the impact of climate change (CC) on the river hydrology of a complex mountainous river basin—the Budhigandaki River Basin (BRB)—using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model that was calibrated and validated in Part I of this research. A relatively new approach of selecting global climate models (GCMs) for each of the two selected RCPs, 4.5 (stabilization scenario) and 8.5 (high emission scenario), representing four extreme cases (warm-wet, cold-wet, warm-dry, and cold-dry conditions), was applied. Future climate data was bias corrected using a quantile mapping method. The bias-corrected GCM data were forced into the SWAT model one at a time to simulate the future flows of BRB for three 30-year time windows: Immediate Future (2021–2050), Mid Future (2046–2075), and Far Future (2070–2099). The projected flows were compared with the corresponding monthly, seasonal, annual, and fractional differences of extreme flows of the simulated baseline period (1983–2012). The results showed that future long-term average annual flows are expected to increase in all climatic conditions for both RCPs compared to the baseline. The range of predicted changes in future monthly, seasonal, and annual flows shows high uncertainty. The comparative frequency analysis of the annual one-day-maximum and -minimum flows shows increased high flows and decreased low flows in the future. These results imply the necessity for design modifications in hydraulic structures as well as the preference of storage over run-of-river water resources development projects in the study basin from the perspective of climate resilience.

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Regional biogeographical model of vegetation zones in doctoral programme Regional Biography in Olomouc (Case study for Norway spruce)

(Teaching) Regional Geography. Proceedings of 27th Central European Conference. 17th October 2019, Brno ◽

10.5817/cz.muni.p210-9694-2020-11 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ivo Machar ◽

Marián Halás ◽

Zdeněk Opršal

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Climate Data ◽

Ecological Data ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Vegetation Zones ◽

Landscape Research

Regional climate changes impacts induce vegetation zones shift to higher altitudes in temperate landscape. This paper deals with applying of regional biogeography model of climate conditions for vegetation zones in Czechia to doctoral programme Regional Geography in Palacky University Olomouc. The model is based on general knowledge of landscape vegetation zonation. Climate data for model come from predicted validated climate database under RCP8.5 scenario since 2100. Ecological data are included in the Biogeography Register database (geobiocoenological data related to landscape for cadastral areas of the Czech Republic). Mathematical principles of modelling are based on set of software solutions with GIS. Students use the model in the frame of the course “Special Approaches to Landscape Research” not only for regional scenarios climate change impacts in landscape scale, but also for assessment of climate conditions for growing capability of agricultural crops or forest trees under climate change on regional level.

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Climate Change Controls Phosphorus Transport from the Watershed into Lake Kinneret (Israel)

10.1101/2021.03.16.435628 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Moshe Gophen

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Regional Climate Change ◽

Lake Kinneret ◽

Phosphorus Transport ◽

Efficient Management ◽

Hula Valley ◽

Reclamation Project ◽

The Impact

AbstractPart of the Kinneret watershed, the Hula Valley, was modified from wetlands – shallow lake for agricultural cultivation. Enhancement of nutrient fluxes into Lake Kinneret was predicted. Therefore, a reclamation project was implemented and eco-tourism partly replaced agriculture. Since the mid-1980s, regional climate change has been documented. Statistical evaluation of long-term records of TP (Total Phosphorus) concentrations in headwaters and potential resources in the Hula Valley was carried out to identify efficient management design targets. Significant correlation between major headwater river discharge and TP concentration was indicated, whilst the impact of external fertilizer loads and 50,000 winter migratory cranes was probably negligible. Nevertheless, confirmed severe bdamage to agricultural crops carried out by cranes led to their maximal deportation and optimization of their feeding policy. Consequently, the continuation of the present management is recommended.

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Simulation of future climate scenarios and the impact on the water availability in southern Brazil

Acta Scientiarum Technology ◽

10.4025/actascitechnol.v43i1.56026 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. e56026

Author(s):

Gabriela Leite Neves ◽

Jorim Sousa das Virgens Filho ◽

Maysa de Lima Leite ◽

Frederico Fabio Mauad

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Balance ◽

Water Availability ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Future Climate ◽

Climate Scenarios ◽

Southern Brazil ◽

Climate Data ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

The Impact

Water is an essential natural resource that is being impacted by climate change. Thus, knowledge of future water availability conditions around the globe becomes necessary. Based on that, this study aimed to simulate future climate scenarios and evaluate the impact on water balance in southern Brazil. Daily data of rainfall and air temperature (maximum and minimum) were used. The meteorological data were collected in 28 locations over 30 years (1980-2009). For the data simulation, we used the climate data stochastic generator PGECLIMA_R. It was considered two scenarios of the fifth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and a scenario with the historical data trend. The water balance estimates were performed for the current data and the simulated data, through the methodology of Thornthwaite and Mather (1955). The moisture indexes were spatialized by the kriging method. These indexes were chosen as the parameters to represent the water conditions in different situations. The region assessed presented a high variability in water availability among locations; however, it did not present high water deficiency values, even with climate change. Overall, it was observed a reduction of moisture index in most sites and in all scenarios assessed, especially in the northern region when compared to the other regions. The second scenario of the IPCC (the worst situation) promoting higher reductions and dry conditions for the 2099 year. The impacts of climate change on water availability, identified in this study, can affect the general society, therefore, they must be considered in the planning and management of water resources, especially in the regional context

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Changes in the occurrence of rainfall-induced landslides in Calabria, Southern Italy, in the 20th century

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/nhessd-3-3579-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 3 (6) ◽

pp. 3579-3619

Author(s):

S. L. Gariano ◽

O. Petrucci ◽

F. Guzzetti

Keyword(s):

Southern Italy ◽

Geographical Area ◽

Daily Rainfall ◽

Recent Period ◽

Rainfall Events ◽

Rain Gauges ◽

Entire Observation Period ◽

Geographical Variations ◽

The Impact ◽

Observation Period

Abstract. We exploit a catalogue of 1466 rainfall events with landslides in the 90 year period 1921–2010 to study temporal and geographical variations in the occurrence of landslides in Calabria, Southern Italy. We use daily rainfall records obtained by a network of 318 rain gauges to reconstruct 448 493 rainfall events. Combining the rainfall and the landslide information, we obtain a catalogue of 1466 rainfall events with landslides (REL) in Calabria from 1921 to 2010, where a REL is the occurrence of one or more landslide during or immediately after a rainfall event. We find that the geographical and the temporal distributions of the rainfall-induced landslides have changed in the observation period. The average and the maximum values of the cumulated event rainfall that have resulted in landslides in the recent-most 30 year period 1981–2010 are lower than the values necessary to trigger landslides in previous periods, whereas the duration of the rainfall events that triggered landslides has remained the same. This can be considered evidence of variations in rainfall conditions, but also an increase in the vulnerability of the territory. We further find that the yearly distribution of rainfall-induced landslides has changed in the observation period, analysing the variations in the number of rainfall events with landslides occurred in each month in three 30 year periods. To investigate variations in the impact of REL on the population, we compared the number of REL in each of the 409 municipalities in Calabria, with the size of the population in the municipalities, measured by national Censuses conducted in 1951, 1981, and 2011. For the purpose, we adopted two strategies. The first strategy considered impact as IREL = #REL/P and the second strategy measured impact as RREL = #REL × P, where #REL is the total number of REL in a period, and P is the size of the population in the same period and geographical area. Considering the entire observation period, IREL and RREL have both increased in Calabria. However, considering the changes between the recent period 1981–2010 and the previous period 1951–1980, results are more variegated with a number of municipalities where IREL and RREL have increased, or decreased. Municipalities where IREL has increased are mainly in the mountains, and municipalities where RREL has increased are mainly along the coasts.

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Evaluating the effect of climate change on snow load on structures

IABSE Symposium, Guimarães 2019: Towards a Resilient Built Environment Risk and Asset Management ◽

10.2749/guimaraes.2019.0666 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pietro Croce ◽

Paolo Formichi ◽

Filippo Landi ◽

Francesca Marsili

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Models ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Climate Extremes ◽

Regional Climate Models ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Uncertainty Range ◽

Greenhouse Gasses ◽

Weather Events ◽

The Impact

As consequence of global warming extreme weather events might become more frequent and severe across the globe. The evaluation of the impact of climate change on extremes is then a crucial issue for the resilience of infrastructures and buildings and is a key challenge for adaptation planning. In this paper, a suitable procedure for the estimation of future trends of climatic actions is presented starting from the output of regional climate models and taking into account the uncertainty in the model itself. In particular, the influence of climate change on ground snow loads is discussed in detail and the typical uncertainty range is determined applying an innovative algorithm for weather generation. Considering different greenhouse gasses emission scenarios, some results are presented for the Italian Mediterranean region proving the ability of the method to define factors of change for climate extremes also allowing a sound estimate of the uncertainty range associated with different models.

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Future humidity extremes in an urban-rural context - using regional climate model projections down to convection permitting scales for Berlin

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12054 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gaby S. Langendijk ◽

Diana Rechid ◽

Daniela Jacob

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Climate Models ◽

Climate Model ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Regional Climate Models ◽

Climate Projections ◽

Climate Data ◽

Urban Rural

Urban areas are prone to climate change impacts. A transition towards sustainable and climate-resilient urban areas is relying heavily on useful, evidence-based climate information on urban scales. However, current climate data and information produced by urban or climate models are either not scale compliant for cities, or do not cover essential parameters and/or urban-rural interactions under climate change conditions. Furthermore, although e.g. the urban heat island may be better understood, other phenomena, such as moisture change, are little researched. Our research shows the potential of regional climate models, within the EURO-CORDEX framework, to provide climate projections and information on urban scales for 11km and 3km grid size. The city of Berlin is taken as a case-study. The results on the 11km spatial scale show that the regional climate models simulate a distinct difference between Berlin and its surroundings for temperature and humidity related variables. There is an increase in urban dry island conditions in Berlin towards the end of the 21st century. To gain a more detailed understanding of climate change impacts, extreme weather conditions were investigated under a 2&#176;C global warming and further downscaled to the 3km scale. This enables the exploration of differences of the meteorological processes between the 11km and 3km scales, and the implications for urban areas and its surroundings. The overall study shows the potential of regional climate models to provide climate change information on urban scales.

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Changes in extreme surface solar radiation in EURO-CORDEX Regional Climate Models

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-16536 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Blanka Bartok

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Power Generation ◽

Solar Radiation ◽

Solar Energy ◽

Electricity Generation ◽

Climate Models ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Regional Climate Models ◽

Surface Solar Radiation ◽

The Impact

As solar energy share is showing a significant growth in the European electricity generation system, assessments regarding long-term variation of this variable related to climate change are becoming more and more relevant for this sector. Several studies analysed the impact of climate change on the solar energy sector in Europe (Jerez et al, 2015) finding light impact (-14%; +2%) in terms of mean surface solar radiation. The present study focuses on extreme values, namely on the distribution of low surface solar radiation (overcast situation) and high surface solar radiation (clear sky situation), since the frequencies of these situations have high impact on electricity generation.The study considers 11 high-resolution (0.11 deg) bias-corrected climate projections from the EURO-CORDEX ensemble with 5 Global Climate Models (GCMs) downscaled by 6 Regional Climate Models (RCMs).Changes in extreme surface solar radiation frequencies show different regional patterns over Europe.The study also includes a case study determining the changes in solar power generation induced by the extreme situations.&#160;&#160;Jerez et al (2015): The impact of climate change on photovoltaic power generation in Europe, Nature Communications 6(1):10014, 10.1038/ncomms10014&#160;

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