Human-induced changes in the hydrology of the Western United States

Tim P. Barnett; David W. Pierce; Hugo G. Hidalgo; Celine Bonfils; Benjamin D. Santer; Tapash Das; Govindasamy Bala; Andrew W. Wood; Toru Nozawa; Arthur A. Mirin; Daniel R. Cayan; Michael D. Dettinger

doi:10.1126/science.1152538

Human-induced changes in the hydrology of the Western United States

Tim P. Barnett, David W. Pierce, Hugo G. Hidalgo, Celine Bonfils, Benjamin D. Santer, Tapash Das, Govindasamy Bala, Andrew W. Wood, Toru Nozawa, Arthur A. Mirin, Daniel R. Cayan, Michael D. Dettinger

Terrestrial Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1004 Scopus citations

Abstract

Observations have shown that the hydrological cycle of the western United States changed significantly over the last half of the 20th century. We present a regional, multivariable climate change detection and attribution study, using a high-resolution hydrologic model forced by global climate models, focusing on the changes that have already affected this primarily arid region with a large and growing population. The results show that up to 60% of the climate-related trends of river flow, winter air temperature, and snow pack between 1950 and 1999 are human-induced. These results are robust to perturbation of study variates and methods. They portend, in conjunction with previous work, a coming crisis in water supply for the western United States.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1080-1083
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	319
Issue number	5866
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1152538
State	Published - Feb 22 2008

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title = "Human-induced changes in the hydrology of the Western United States",

abstract = "Observations have shown that the hydrological cycle of the western United States changed significantly over the last half of the 20th century. We present a regional, multivariable climate change detection and attribution study, using a high-resolution hydrologic model forced by global climate models, focusing on the changes that have already affected this primarily arid region with a large and growing population. The results show that up to 60\% of the climate-related trends of river flow, winter air temperature, and snow pack between 1950 and 1999 are human-induced. These results are robust to perturbation of study variates and methods. They portend, in conjunction with previous work, a coming crisis in water supply for the western United States.",

author = "Barnett, \{Tim P.\} and Pierce, \{David W.\} and Hidalgo, \{Hugo G.\} and Celine Bonfils and Santer, \{Benjamin D.\} and Tapash Das and Govindasamy Bala and Wood, \{Andrew W.\} and Toru Nozawa and Mirin, \{Arthur A.\} and Cayan, \{Daniel R.\} and Dettinger, \{Michael D.\}",

year = "2008",

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day = "22",

doi = "10.1126/science.1152538",

language = "English",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Human-induced changes in the hydrology of the Western United States

AU - Barnett, Tim P.

AU - Pierce, David W.

AU - Hidalgo, Hugo G.

AU - Bonfils, Celine

AU - Santer, Benjamin D.

AU - Das, Tapash

AU - Bala, Govindasamy

AU - Wood, Andrew W.

AU - Nozawa, Toru

AU - Mirin, Arthur A.

AU - Cayan, Daniel R.

AU - Dettinger, Michael D.

PY - 2008/2/22

Y1 - 2008/2/22

N2 - Observations have shown that the hydrological cycle of the western United States changed significantly over the last half of the 20th century. We present a regional, multivariable climate change detection and attribution study, using a high-resolution hydrologic model forced by global climate models, focusing on the changes that have already affected this primarily arid region with a large and growing population. The results show that up to 60% of the climate-related trends of river flow, winter air temperature, and snow pack between 1950 and 1999 are human-induced. These results are robust to perturbation of study variates and methods. They portend, in conjunction with previous work, a coming crisis in water supply for the western United States.

AB - Observations have shown that the hydrological cycle of the western United States changed significantly over the last half of the 20th century. We present a regional, multivariable climate change detection and attribution study, using a high-resolution hydrologic model forced by global climate models, focusing on the changes that have already affected this primarily arid region with a large and growing population. The results show that up to 60% of the climate-related trends of river flow, winter air temperature, and snow pack between 1950 and 1999 are human-induced. These results are robust to perturbation of study variates and methods. They portend, in conjunction with previous work, a coming crisis in water supply for the western United States.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/39749104112

U2 - 10.1126/science.1152538

DO - 10.1126/science.1152538

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:39749104112

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 319

SP - 1080

EP - 1083

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 5866

ER -

Human-induced changes in the hydrology of the Western United States

Abstract

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