The Washington climate change impacts assessment: evaluating Washington's future in a changing climate
Date
2009-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Abstract
Temperature records indicate that Pacific Northwest temperatures increased 1.5°F since 1920. Climate models used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report simulate the same historical warming by including both human and natural causes, and point to much greater warming for the next century. These models project increases in annual temperature of, on average, 2.0°F by the 2020s, 3.2°F by the 2040s, and 5.3°F by the 2080s (compared to 1970 to 19992), averaged across all climate models3. Projected changes in annual precipitation, averaged over all models, are small (+1 to +2%), but some models project an enhanced seasonal precipitation cycle with changes toward wetter autumns and winters and drier summers. Increases in extreme high precipitation in western Washington and reductions in the Cascades snowpack are key projections consistent among different projections of a high-resolution regional climate model.
Description
24 page digital document provided as a pdf file, 10.6MB
item.page.type
Technical Report
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Keywords
Climate Change, Yakima Basin, Hydrology, Resource management, Habitat, temperature
Citation
Littell, J.S., M. McGuire Elsner, L.C. Whitely Binder, and A.K. Snover (eds). 2009. The Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment: Evaluating Washington's Future in a Changing Climate - Executive Summary. In The Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment: Evaluating Washington's Future in a Changing Climate, Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Available at: www.cses.washington.edu/db/pdf/wacciaexecsummary638.pdf