Responses of river discharge and sediment load to climate change in the transboundary Mekong River Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (S1) ◽  
pp. 367-380
Author(s):  
Dao Nguyen Khoi ◽  
Van Thinh Nguyen ◽  
Truong Thao Sam ◽  
Nguyen Ky Phung ◽  
Nguyen Thi Bay
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Discharge ◽  
Sediment Load ◽  
Mekong River ◽  
Mekong River Basin

scholarly journals Uncertainty in climate change projections of discharge for the Mekong River Basin

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 5991-6024 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Kingston ◽  
J. R. Thompson ◽  
G. Kite
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Discharge ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Mekong River ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Mekong River Basin ◽  
Snow Storage

Abstract. The Mekong River Basin comprises a key regional resource in Southeast Asia for sectors that include agriculture, fisheries and electricity production. Here we explore the potential impacts of climate change on freshwater resources within the river basin. We quantify uncertainty in these projections associated with GCM structure and climate sensitivity, as well as from hydrological model parameter specification. This is achieved by running pattern-scaled GCM output through a semi-distributed hydrological model (SLURP) of the basin. These pattern-scaled GCM outputs allow investigation of specific thresholds of global climate change including the postulated 2 ºC threshold of "dangerous" climate change as simulated using outputs from seven different GCMs. Detailed analysis of results based on HadCM3 climate scenarios reveals a relatively small but non-linear response of annual river discharge to increasing global mean temperature, ranging from a 5.4% decrease to 4.5% increase. Intra-annual (monthly) changes in river discharge are greater (from −16% to +55%, with greatest decreases in July and August, greatest increases in May and June) and result from complex and contrasting intra-basin changes in precipitation, evaporation and snow storage/melt. Whilst overall results are highly GCM dependent (in both direction and magnitude), this uncertainty is primarily driven by differences in GCM projections of future precipitation. In contrast, there is strong consistency between GCMs in terms of both increased potential evapotranspiration and a shift to an earlier and less substantial snowmelt season. Indeed, in the upper Mekong (Lancang sub-basin), the temperature-related signal in discharge is strong enough to overwhelm the precipitation-related uncertainty in the direction of change in discharge, with scenarios from all GCMs leading to increased river flow from April–June, and decreased flow from July–August.

scholarly journals Uncertainty in climate change projections of discharge for the Mekong River Basin

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 1459-1471 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Kingston ◽  
J. R. Thompson ◽  
G. Kite
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Discharge ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Mekong River ◽  
Mekong River Basin ◽  
Global Mean Temperature ◽  
Snow Storage ◽  
Mean Temperature ◽  
Global Mean

Abstract. The Mekong River Basin is a key regional resource in Southeast Asia for sectors that include agriculture, fisheries and electricity production. Here we explore the potential impacts of climate change on freshwater resources within the river basin. We quantify uncertainty in these projections associated with GCM structure and climate sensitivity, as well as from hydrological model parameter specification. This is achieved by running pattern-scaled GCM scenarios through a semi-distributed hydrological model (SLURP) of the basin. Pattern-scaling allows investigation of specific thresholds of global climate change including the postulated 2 °C threshold of "dangerous" climate change. Impacts of a 2 °C rise in global mean temperature are investigated using seven different GCMs, providing an implicit analysis of uncertainty associated with GCM structure. Analysis of progressive changes in global mean temperature from 0.5 to 6 °C above the 1961–1990 baseline (using the HadCM3 GCM) reveals a relatively small but non-linear response of annual river discharge to increasing global mean temperature, ranging from a 5.4 % decrease to 4.5 % increase. Changes in mean monthly river discharge are greater (from −16 % to +55 %, with greatest decreases in July and August, greatest increases in May and June) and result from complex and contrasting intra-basin changes in precipitation, evaporation and snow storage/melt. Whilst overall results are highly GCM dependent (in both direction and magnitude), this uncertainty is primarily driven by differences in GCM projections of future precipitation. In contrast, there is strong consistency between GCMs in terms of both increased potential evapotranspiration and a shift to an earlier and less substantial snowmelt season. Indeed, in the upper Mekong (Lancang sub-basin), the temperature-related signal in discharge is strong enough to overwhelm the precipitation-related uncertainty in the direction of change in discharge, with scenarios from all GCMs leading to increased river flow from April–June and decreased flow from July–August.

scholarly journals Meteorological and hydrological droughts in Mekong River Basin and surrounding areas under climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 100873
Author(s):  
Yishan Li ◽  
Hui Lu ◽  
Kun Yang ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Qiuhong Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Mekong River ◽  
Mekong River Basin ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
Hydrological Droughts

Impacts of climate change and reservoir operation on streamflow and flood characteristics in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin

2020 ◽  
Vol 590 ◽  
pp. 125472
Author(s):  
Xiaobo Yun ◽  
Qiuhong Tang ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
Xingcai Liu ◽  
Yongqiang Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Reservoir Operation ◽  
Mekong River ◽  
Mekong River Basin ◽  
Flood Characteristics ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change
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