Blöschl, Günter and Hall, Julia and Parajka, Juraj and Perdigão, Rui A. P. and Merz, Bruno and Arheimer, Berit and Aronica, Giuseppe T. and Bilibashi, Ardian and Bonacci, Ognjen and Borga, Marco and Čanjevac, Ivan and Castellarin, Attilio and Chirico, Giovanni B. and Claps, Pierluigi and Fiala, Károly and Frolova, Natalia and Gorbachova, Liudmyla and Gül, Ali and Hannaford, Jamie and Harrigan, Shaun and Kireeva, Maria and Kiss, Andrea and Kjeldsen, Thomas R. and Kohnová, Silvia and Koskela, Jarkko J. and Ledvinka, Ondrej and MacDonald, Neil and Mavrova-Guirguinova, Maria and Mediero, Luis and Merz, Ralf and Molnar, Peter and Montanari, Alberto and Murphy, Conor and Osuch, Marzena and Ovcharuk, Valeryia and Radevski, Ivan and Rogger, Magdalena and Salinas, José L. and Sauquet, Eric and Šraj, Mojca and Szolgay, Jan and Viglione, Alberto and Volpi, Elena and Wilson, Donna and Zaimi, Klodian and Živković, Nenad (2017) Changing climate shifts timing of European floods. Science, 357 (6351). pp. 588-590. ISSN 0036-8075

Preview

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

A warming climate is expected to have an impact on the magnitude and timing of river floods; however, no consistent large-scale climate change signal in observed flood magnitudes has been identified so far. We analyzed the timing of river floods in Europe over the past five decades, using a pan-European database from 4262 observational hydrometric stations, and found clear patterns of change in flood timing. Warmer temperatures have led to earlier spring snowmelt floods throughout northeastern Europe; delayed winter storms associated with polar warming have led to later winter floods around the North Sea and some sectors of the Mediterranean coast; and earlier soil moisture maxima have led to earlier winter floods in western Europe. Our results highlight the existence of a clear climate signal in flood observations at the continental scale.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Trends; Multidisciplinary Sciences; Large-Scale; Environmental aspects; Floods; Climatic changes;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS
Item ID:	11683
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan2506
Depositing User:	Conor Murphy
Date Deposited:	12 Nov 2019 17:11
Journal or Publication Title:	Science
Publisher:	American Association for the Advancement of Science
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads