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The Effect of Climate Change on Watershed Water Balance

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Mathematical Advances Towards Sustainable Environmental Systems

Abstract

Climate change refers to a statistically significant long-term shift in the pattern (mean state and variability) of regional or global climate. This phenomenon is attributed to human activities, which have resulted in an increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the global atmosphere. Climate change is already having major effects on the physical environment and biota. The highlighted study investigated the effects of climate change on the sustainability of water resources at a watershed scale, by defining different patterns of climate change (i.e. ideal, medium, and critical) and weighing the output of different general circulation models (GCM). Based on given climate change patterns, the meteorological data (particularly near and far future temperature and precipitation data) were downscaled to the local or regional scale using stochastic weather generators (WGs). The link between climate change and surface runoff was then developed by modelling unit hydrographs within the conceptual framework of rainfall-runoff models. This allowed a reasonable estimate of the future state of surface water resources in the face of climate change to be made; as well as an assertion of the impact of climate change on intra-watershed water consumption (e.g. agricultural, industrial, domestic). Water resource sustainability indices were used to assess the impact of climate change on water resource dynamics within watersheds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, 8415683111, Isfahan, Iran

    M. J. Zareian, S. Eslamian & A. Gohari

  2. Department of Bioresource Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste Anne de Bellevue, QC, Canada, H9X 3V9

    J. F. Adamowski

Authors
  1. M. J. Zareian
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  2. S. Eslamian
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  3. A. Gohari
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  4. J. F. Adamowski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. J. Zareian .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environment and Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom

    James N. Furze

  2. College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador

    Kelly Swing

  3. Indian Institute of Management, Coordinator, Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

    Anil K. Gupta

  4. Centre for Complex Cooperative Systems, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Richard H. McClatchey

  5. Centre for Research in Biosciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Darren M. Reynolds

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Zareian, M.J., Eslamian, S., Gohari, A., Adamowski, J.F. (2017). The Effect of Climate Change on Watershed Water Balance. In: Furze, J., Swing, K., Gupta, A., McClatchey, R., Reynolds, D. (eds) Mathematical Advances Towards Sustainable Environmental Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43901-3_10

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