Heatwave occurrence in South Africa and India
Mountain snowpack decline in western North America
Mountain snowpack in western North America is important for storing water from the winter (when most precipitation falls) and releasing it in spring and early summer, when economic, environmental, and recreational demands for water throughout the American West are frequently greatest. It has recently been found that widespread declines in spring-time snowpack have occurred in much of the region over the period 1925-2000, and that several factors argue for a climatic role in this (Mote et al 2005).
By using precipitation and temperature data generated by the climate model simulations in this Seasonal Attribution project, and feeding it into a hydrological model, researchers can investigate the effects of human-induced climate change on mountain snowpack. The lead investigator in this collaboration is Dr Philp W. Mote in the Climate Impacts group at the University of Washington.
The figure below shows the region in the climate model over which we are outputting daily precipitation and temperature data. The actual data plotted is for average conditions (ensemble mean from Beta test) around the time of year most important to the investigation.
Heatwave occurrence in South Africa and India
Both these regions have suffered severe heatwaves recently. More details will follow.
In the meantime, here's a little movie of the type of output we have for the Indian region. Notice how summer temperatures for an Industrial climate are generally a few degrees warmer than for the corresponding Non-Industrial climate:
