Robust spring drying in the southwestern U.S. and seasonal migration of wet/dry patterns in a warmer climate
Abstract
This study compares climate simulations over North America produced by a regional climate model with the driving global climate simulations as well as a multimodel ensemble of global climate simulations to investigate robust changes in water availability (precipitation (P)-evapotranspiration (E)). A robust spring-drying signal across multiple models is identified in the Southwest that results from a decrease in P and an increase in E in the future. In the boreal winter and summer, the prominent changes in P-E are associated with a north-south dipole pattern, while in spring, the prominent changes in P-E appear as an east-west dipole pattern. The progression of the north-south and east-west dipole patterns through the seasons manifests clearly as a seasonal "clockwise" migration of wet/dry patterns, which is a robust feature of water availability changes in North America consistent across regional and global climate simulations.
- Publication:
-
Geophysical Research Letters
- Pub Date:
- March 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1002/2014GL059562
- Bibcode:
- 2014GeoRL..41.1745G
- Keywords:
-
- climate change;
- water availability;
- regional climate simulations;
- global climate simulations