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CLIMATE VARIABILITY, ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGE, AND CONSEQUENCES IN THE MID-ATLANTIC
Citation:
Walker, H A., B. Yarnal, V. Berounsky, E H. Dettmann, J S. Latimer, AND N A. Jaworski. CLIMATE VARIABILITY, ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGE, AND CONSEQUENCES IN THE MID-ATLANTIC. Presented at New England Estuarine Research Society, Block Island, RI, November 2, 2000.
Description:
When compared to the preceding millennium, the rate of temperature change over the past century strongly suggests that we are in a period of rapid global climate change. Globally, continued anthropogenic increases in concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases probably will result in increased surface temperatures, an accelerated hydrological cycle, changed patterns of climate variation, and altered frequencies and intensities of climate extremes. Regionally, human population trends and modification of watersheds in the Mid-Atlantic Region have amplified some risks associated with dry and wet extremes of climate. For example, increasing demands for water magnify the impacts of drought, greater nutrient loadings in watersheds means that nitrogen flux per unit flow has grown substantially, and wet years in recent decades have different consequences in coastal receiving waters than equivalent wet years earlier in the 20th century. From analyses of observed and proxy indices of climate variability, soil moisture, streamflow, and water quality variations, we conclude that risks in the Mid-Atlantic Region associated with regional climate extremes are increasing because of anthropogenic changes in resource use and the environment.