Different sensitivity of snowpack to climate warming in Mediterranean mountain areas
Abstract
This work analyses the differences in climate and snowpack characteristics in different Mediterranean mountain areas. Differences in latitude and specific climate conditions lead to strong contrasts in snowpack duration and accumulation, but also in the contribution of the various components of energy and mass balance of the snowpacks. Such differences lead also to different sensitivities to increasing temperature when snowpack is simulated for different warming scenarios. Mountain areas located at lower elevation and southernmost latitude are noticeably more sensitive to climate warming than others where currently accumulates a thicker and long lasting snowpack. Results clearly inform that projected changes on snowpack and hydrology of mountain areas for the future are not only dependent on the magnitude of simulated climate under different emission scenarios, but also on the differences of snowpack characteristics that is currently found when different mountains are compared. Thus, results highlight the need of more intercomparison exercises across mountainous regions of the world to better understand climate change impacts on mountain hydrology.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015AGUFM.C43F..02L
- Keywords:
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- 0736 Snow;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0794 Instruments and techniques;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 0798 Modeling;
- CRYOSPHERE;
- 1863 Snow and ice;
- HYDROLOGY