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Global River Discharge and Floods in the Warmer Climate of the Last Interglacial
Author(s) -
Scussolini Paolo,
Eilander Dirk,
Sutanudjaja Edwin H.,
Ikeuchi Hiroaki,
Hoch Jannis M.,
Ward Philip J.,
Bakker Pepijn,
OttoBliesner Bette L.,
Guo Chuncheng,
Stepanek Christian,
Zhang Qiong,
Braconnot Pascale,
Guarino MariaVittoria,
Muis Sanne,
Yamazaki Dai,
Veldkamp Ted I. E.,
Aerts Jeroen C. J. H.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2020gl089375
Subject(s) - interglacial , discharge , northern hemisphere , climatology , flood myth , monsoon , precipitation , surface runoff , environmental science , climate change , climate model , boreal , hydrology (agriculture) , quaternary , drainage basin , geology , oceanography , geography , paleontology , ecology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , meteorology , biology
We investigate hydrology during a past climate slightly warmer than the present: the last interglacial (LIG). With daily output of preindustrial and LIG simulations from eight new climate models we force hydrological model PCR‐GLOBWB and in turn hydrodynamic model CaMa‐Flood. Compared to preindustrial, annual mean LIG runoff, discharge, and 100‐yr flood volume are considerably larger in the Northern Hemisphere, by 14%, 25%, and 82%, respectively. Anomalies are negative in the Southern Hemisphere. In some boreal regions, LIG runoff and discharge are lower despite higher precipitation, due to the higher temperatures and evaporation. LIG discharge is much higher for the Niger, Congo, Nile, Ganges, Irrawaddy, and Pearl and lower for the Mississippi, Saint Lawrence, Amazon, Paraná, Orange, Zambesi, Danube, and Ob. Discharge is seasonally postponed in tropical rivers affected by monsoon changes. Results agree with published proxies on the sign of discharge anomaly in 15 of 23 sites where comparison is possible.