Are declining river inflows linked to rising temperatures? A perspective from the Murray-Darling Basin
Paper
Paper/Presentation Title | Are declining river inflows linked to rising temperatures? A perspective from the Murray-Darling Basin |
---|---|
Presentation Type | Paper |
Authors | Cowan, T. D. and Cai, Wenju |
Journal or Proceedings Title | Proceedings of the 18th World IMACS Congress and International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM09) |
Journal Citation | pp. 2763 - 2768 |
Number of Pages | 6 |
Year | 2009 |
Publisher | Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand |
Place of Publication | Australia |
ISBN | 9780975840078 |
Web Address (URL) of Conference Proceedings | https://mssanz.org.au/modsim09/ |
Conference/Event | 18th World IMACS Congress and MODSIM09 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation |
Event Details | 18th World IMACS Congress and MODSIM09 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation Parent IMACS World Congress and MODSIM International Congress on Modelling and Simulation Delivery In person Event Date 13 to end of 17 Jul 2009 Event Location Cairns, Australia |
Abstract | In recent years, rainfall across the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) was well below the long-term average, but not unprecedented. In contrast, streamflows to Australia's longest river system, the Murray-Darling, reached a historical low. Here we examine the possible causes for this disparity. Although annual total inflow is more sensitive to rainfall fluctuations over south eastern Australia, where rainfall over recent years has been the lowest over the entire record, this alone is unable to explain the observed decreasing trend in inflow. A relationship exists between inflow variations and fluctuations of temperature not associated with rainfall in austral winter and spring: a rise of 1°C leads to an approximate 15% reduction in the climatological annual MDB inflow. Our results provide a strong link between rising temperatures, due to the enhanced greenhouse effect, and the impact this has on Australia's water resources, in addition to any reduction in rainfall. Future conditions of MDB inflows will be discussed with reference to climate-model projections. |
Keywords | Rising temperature; inflow reduction; climate change |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 370201. Climate change processes |
370704. Surface water hydrology | |
Public Notes | There are no files associated with this item. |
Byline Affiliations | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/z09y2/are-declining-river-inflows-linked-to-rising-temperatures-a-perspective-from-the-murray-darling-basin
52
total views0
total downloads8
views this month0
downloads this month