Midwinter breakup and jamming on the upper Saint John River: a case study

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros Beltaos ◽  
Sayed Ismail ◽  
Brian C Burrell
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
River Ice ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Damage Reduction ◽  
Saint John

Changing climates will likely result in more frequent midwinter ice jams along many Canadian rivers, thereby increasing the likelihood of flood damage and environmental changes. Therefore, the possibility of more frequent ice jams has to be considered during the planning of flood damage reduction measures, the design of waterway structures, and the enactment of measures to protect the environment. As a case study of midwinter jamming, four winter breakup and jamming events that occurred along an upper stretch of the Saint John River during the 1990s are described and the implications of similar midwinter jamming are discussed.Key words: breakup, river ice, climate change, ice jamming, ice thickness, winter, winter thaw.

scholarly journals Impact of Climate Change on the Frequency of Dynamic Breakup Events and on the Risk of Ice-Jam Floods in Quebec, Canada

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Turcotte ◽  
Brian Morse ◽  
Gabriel Pelchat
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
River Ice ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Cold Regions ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Ice Breakup

In cold regions, every year, river-ice jams generate sudden, surprising, intense flooding that challenges the capacity of public security services. This type of flood is commonly unpredictable and often appears chaotic because its occurrence depends on multiple, interacting weather, hydrological, ice and morphological parameters. This paper presents the findings of a research project assessing how climate change impacts dynamic river-ice breakup and associated floods along seven rivers of the province of Quebec, Canada. A combination of empirical river-ice breakup models, state-of-the-art hydrological simulations and standardized climate projections was used to estimate the historical (1972–2000) and future (2042–2070) frequencies of dynamic breakup events. Ice jam flood damage reimbursement data were used to predict changes to financial risk associated with dynamic breakup events. Results show that, overall, ice-jam floods will generate more damage in the future, which justifies watershed-based flood adaptation plans that take into account cold regions hydrological processes. The success of the methodology also sets the table for a comparable project that would include more rivers from different regions of Northeastern America.

scholarly journals Global warming and climate change with reference to South Africa. Some perspectives

2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gawie De Villiers ◽  
Giel Viljoen ◽  
Herman Booysen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Storm Surges ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Sufficient Evidence

According to the geological history of the earth, climate change is an integral part of environmental changes that occurred over time. Sufficient evidence is provided of recurrent wet and dry and cold and hot periods due to natural circumstances. Since the industrial revolution human activities increasingly contribute to air pollution by releasing huge volumes of carbon dioxide and other gasses into the atmosphere, so much so that it is generally accepted that increase in global warming the past decades is directly linked to human activities. Observable signs of human induced climate change include increasing average temperatures at many places, melting ice caps in polar areas, rising sea levels on a global scale and coastal disturbances and damages due to storm surges on coastal areas in various countries, also in South Africa. Consensus from a number of hydrological-meteorological circulation models show, for South Africa, a rise in average annual winter and summer temperatures of between 1.5 and 3.0 degrees Centigrade the following number of decades with a strong possibility of an increase in rainfall in the eastern parts and a decrease in rainfall in the western parts. Bigger floods and longer droughts should occur more frequently as well as severe sea onslaught activities along the eastern and south-eastern coastal areas. The net impact of the predictions on the community is negative. There is though other scientists who indicate that no concrete proof of climate change in South Africa exists; including changes with regard to river floods and droughts. According to more beneficial than detrimental. Despite the differences in opinion about the relative contribution of natural and human activities to the present global warming, changes in hydrological and characteristics of floods in several parts of South Africa in the immediate past, necessitate modifications to available models and approaches to flood damage management and control. Flood conditions need to be managed with applicable models. Modifications are furthermore essential as a result of meaningful demographic, social, physical and economic changes in the working and living environments of people and communities.

scholarly journals Keeping ahead of floods and droughts: a case study of Sdau Kaong Commune, Cambodia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sopharo Oum
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Lao Pdr ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
The Face ◽  
Floods And Droughts ◽  
Outstanding Question

<p>The Lower Mekong Basin covers four countries, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. These countries are often affected by floods and sometimes by droughts. These natural hazards silently and adversely affect people’s livelihoods in the region. In the face of future environmental changes, especially climate change and dam construction along the Mekong River, patterns of floods and droughts are more likely to exacerbate the situation. For this case study of a vulnerable commune in this setting, I developed a hybrid model of the development and complexity paradigms to both organise my research data and extend my analysis. This holistic hybrid paradigm enabled me to explore the interrelationships between natural hazards, disasters, and vulnerability, and adopt a multidisciplinary approach in which I attempt to integrate disaster risk management and climate change adaptation models to highlight problems and to propose interventions. The results obtained indicate that in the future floods and droughts are likely to be more frequent and severe and just what impact additional dams currently being planned or built will have over the control of water levels remains an outstanding question. Plans need to be made to enable people to cope with floods and droughts because these can have a hugely detrimental impact on their livelihoods including crops and personal property, people, community infrastructure and environment. Although current coping strategies are in place, disasters still occur. Based on the vulnerability context of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and the Pressure and Release (PAR) model, I was able to show how vulnerability is exacerbated by dissonant social, economic, and political structures. This research also proposes an integrated framework, including adaptive management and participatory action research, as a way of monitoring interventions that could possibly resolve some of the challenges.</p>

scholarly journals Responses of Indigenous People to the Climate Changes: A Case Study of the Surels of Dolakha District of Nepal

Patan Pragya ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (02) ◽  
pp. 99-114
Author(s):  
Hari Prasad Bhattarai
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Seasonal Migration ◽  
Cropping Pattern ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Indigenous Group

This paper has examined the way the Surels, an indigenous group inhabiting in Suri village of Dolakha district, perceive climate change and also has attempted to document their adaptive strategies to the changes brought about by climate change and global warming. These peoples have developed uniquely insightful ways of observing, interpreting, and responding to the impacts of climate changes through interacting and closely linking their lives with their surroundings. They clearly linked climate change with the changes in the weather patterns over the years indicating erratic rainfall patterns, advancing monsoon, advancing summer and spring, shorter and warmer winter, drier and hotter summer. This paper argues that these people observe and encounter climate and environmental changes immediately and use traditional knowledge and survival skills to adapt to these changes as they occurred. They have devised, though it is not well documented, useful coping mechanisms—modifying cropping pattern and crop types, community-based afforestation and forest management initiatives, improve water management, involvement of community organization in water management and seasonal migration to India- to respond and reduce climate induced risks and impacts which have enabled them to achieve stable livelihoods in their environment.

Modelling climatic impacts on ice-jam floods: a review of current models, modelling capabilities, challenges, and future prospects.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Apurba Das ◽  
Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
River Ice ◽  
Ice Jams ◽  
Ice Jam ◽  
Northern Latitudes ◽  
Climatic Impacts ◽  
Current Modelling

River ice is an important hydraulic and hydrological component of many rivers in the high northern latitudes of the world. It controls the hydraulic characteristics of streamflow, affects the geomorphology of channels, and can cause flooding due to ice-jam formation during ice-cover freeze-up and breakup periods. In recent decades, climate change has considerably altered ice regimes, affecting the severity of ice-jam flooding. Although many approaches have been developed to model river ice regimes and the severity of ice jam flooding, appropriate methods that account for impacts of the future climate on ice-jam flooding have not been well established. Therefore, the main goals of this study are to review the current knowledge of climate change impacts on river ice processes and to assess the current modelling capabilities to determine the severity of ice jams under future climatic conditions. Finally, a conceptual river ice-jam modelling approach is presented for incorporating climate change impacts on ice jams.

Climate-mediated changes in predator–prey interactions in the fossil record: a case study using shell-drilling gastropods from the Pleistocene Japan Sea

Paleobiology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoki Chiba ◽  
Shin’ichi Sato
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Japan Sea ◽  
Warm Water ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Water Shell ◽  
Long Timescales ◽  
Molluscan Species

AbstractPaleoecological studies enhance our understanding of biotic responses to climate change because they consider long timescales not accessible through observational and experimental studies. Using predatory drillholes produced on fossil bivalve shells by carnivorous gastropods, we provide an example of how climate change affected predator–prey interactions. We quantitatively examine temporal changes in fossil molluscan assemblages and predation patterns from the Pleistocene Japan Sea, which experienced drastic environmental changes in relation to glacial–interglacial climate cycles. We found significant changes in predation patterns associated with a decline in the abundance of warm-water molluscan species. Climate-mediated fluctuations in the eustatic sea level and resultant weakening of the Tsushima Warm Current caused a decline in a warm-water shell-drilling predator, which moderated the predation pressure and size relationship between the predators and the bivalve prey. Our results indicate that climate-mediated range shifts of species in present-day and future marine ecosystems can likewise increase altered predator–prey interactions.

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