Publication Abstracts

Seager et al. 2013

Seager, R., M. Ting, C. Li, N. Naik, B. Cook, J. Nakamura, and H. Liu, 2013: Projections of declining surface-water availability for the southwestern United States. Nat. Clim. Change, 3, 482-486, doi:10.1038/nclimate1787.

Global warming driven by rising greenhouse-gas concentrations is expected to cause wet regions of the tropics and mid to high latitudes to get wetter and subtropical dry regions to get drier and expand polewards. Over southwest North America, models project a steady drop in precipitation minus evapotranspiration, P-E, the net flux of water at the land surface, leading to, for example, a decline in Colorado River flow. This would cause widespread and important social and ecological consequences. Here, using new simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Five, to be assessed in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report Five, we extend previous work by examining changes in P, E, runoff and soil moisture by season and for three different water resource regions. Focusing on the near future, 2021-2040, the new simulations project declines in surface-water availability across the southwest that translate into reduced soil moisture and runoff in California and Nevada, the Colorado River headwaters and Texas.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{se00200p,
  author={Seager, R. and Ting, M. and Li, C. and Naik, N. and Cook, B. and Nakamura, J. and Liu, H.},
  title={Projections of declining surface-water availability for the southwestern United States},
  year={2013},
  journal={Nature Climate Change},
  volume={3},
  pages={482--486},
  doi={10.1038/nclimate1787},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - se00200p
AU  - Seager, R.
AU  - Ting, M.
AU  - Li, C.
AU  - Naik, N.
AU  - Cook, B.
AU  - Nakamura, J.
AU  - Liu, H.
PY  - 2013
TI  - Projections of declining surface-water availability for the southwestern United States
JA  - Nat. Clim. Change
JO  - Nature Climate Change
VL  - 3
SP  - 482
EP  - 486
DO  - 10.1038/nclimate1787
ER  -

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