Transcript Climate Change and Rainfall

Climate Change and Rainfall
Changing patterns of rainfall and the
consequences in Hungary, Germany
and Scotland.
Climate change
• Global warming is the rise in the average
temperature of Earth's atmosphere and
oceans since the late 19th century
• Earth's mean surface temperature has
increased by about 0.8 °C.
Effects
• An increase in global temperature include a rise
of the sea level.
• Change in the amount and pattern of
precipitation.
• A probable expansion of subtropical deserts.
• The warming include a more frequent occurrence
of extreme weather:
1. heat waves
2. droughts
3. heavy rain
Precipitation
• A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture,
and globally water vapour increases by 7% for
every degree centigrade of warming
• Regions that are already wet are likely to get
wetter and the dry regions of the subtropics are
likely to get drier.
• It is likely that in a warmer climate heavy rainfall
will increase and be produced by fewer more
intense events. This could lead to longer dry
spells and a higher risk of floods.
1838: A Historic Flood in Hungary
A historic flood in Hungary occurred in 1838, when the icy March waters
destroyed 2,281 houses in Pest, and seriously damaged 827 others.
Only 1,146 houses remained. In Buda, where many houses were built on
hillsides, only 204 houses collapsed, and 262 were seriously damaged,
with 2,023 houses remaining.
At that time, between 50,000 and 60,000
inhabitants became homeless, and
22,000 lost everything. Along the entire
Hungarian stretch of the Danube, over
10,000 houses were destroyed, with
about 4,000 houses badly damaged.
The flooded area of Budapest
“The trees of the island are almost invisible because of the flood.”
(The picture was drawn about the Great Flooding from 1838)
Hunger-Rock
The Hunger-Rock is a stone in the Danube near Gellért-Hill.
It got its name because it’s only visible when the water
level is low.
The last time the rock was visible was in 2011.
North Sea flood of 1962 in Germany
The North Sea flood of 1962
was a natural disaster affecting
mainly the coastal regions of
Germany and in particular the
city of Hamburg in the night
from 16 February to 17
February 1962. In total, the
homes of about 60,000 people
were destroyed, and the death
toll amounted to 315 in
Hamburg.
The flood was caused by the Vincinette lowpressure system, approaching the German
Bight from the southern Polar Sea.
In Hamburg, on the river Elbe, but a full
100 km away from the coast, the residential
area of Wilhelmsburg was most affected.
2002 – the „Century Flood“ of the rivers Elbe
and Danube
The floods that hit Europe during August 2002 were part of a larger system that
was also affecting Asia. Within Europe, however, the areas that sustained
significant damage included the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Spain,
Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, and Ukraine. Several rivers in
the region, including the Vltava, Elbe and Danube reached record highs.
Elbe 12-8-2002
Elbe 20-8-2002
In Germany an area of 76.000 ha was flooded and the damage caused by the
flood was about 15 billion Euros and 21 persons died in Saxonia.
In Czechoslovakia 17 persons died and the damage was about 3,3 billion Euro
Dresden Railway Station
Danube next to Vienna
Scotland and its Weather
Scottish Weather and Water Levels
River levels
• SEPA monitors water level at 392 sites throughout
Scotland. Most of the stations are sited on rivers;
however data from several tide and loch level
recorders are also displayed.
• Fishermen, canoeists and other river users can use
the information on these pages to help with
planning their river use.
Data collection
River level data is collected at gauging stations using a
variety of electronic sensors and data loggers.
Weather in Thornhill (17-04-2013)
1300 HOU 1600 HOUR 1900 HOUR 2200 HOUR 0100 HOUR 0400 HOU
RS
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THU
Weather
Conditions
Temperature
(°C)
9°C
Wind Speed
(mph)
9°C
10°C
8°C
8°C
8°C
19MPHSOUTH 11MPHSOU
22MPHSOUTHE 19MPHSOUTHE 23MPHSOUTHE 25MPHSOUTHE
SOUTH
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RLY
RLY
RLY
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WESTERLY WESTERLY
Recent Changes in Scottish Weather
Tayside, Angus and Dundee, Findhorn Nairn Moray and
Speyside are all currently at risk of flooding. This is a recent
change as normally lower parts of Scotland receive more rain.
Recently in Scotland the weather has been a lot drier than
usual, although in many parts of the country rainfall is still
regular.
Solutions
• Levees and embankments – prevent rivers from
overflowing
• Planting trees – increases interception of rain water
• Reservoirs – to store floodwater
• Dams – to hold back floodwater
• Build flood walls
Heatwave of 2003
• All over Europe countries were hit with much warmer
temperatures than usual. Hungary, Germany and Scotland
were all affected by the heat – some effects were good but
most of them were negative.
• In Germany, a record temperature of 40.4 °C was recorded.
With only half the normal rainfall, rivers were at their lowest
that century and ships couldn’t travel on many rivers.
Average temperature 1999 - 2002
Temperature 2003
• In Hungary, the heat ripened the grapes faster and
therefore better wine was made. This meant that
the wine from Hungary won many awards that year.
• In Scotland, the temperature during the summer
was higher than usual, however rain was still
present throughout the year. Scotland broke its
highest temperature record with 32.9 °C. According
to the BBC around 2,000 more people died than
usual in the United Kingdom during the 2003 heat
wave.
Heat wave of 2006
• Drought was an issue in many parts of the United
Kingdom after a very dry winter. There was warning
of drought occurring from the early months of 2006.
• Following the dry winter, with extreme
temperatures occurring in the country and little
rain, increasing strain was put on water supplies,
and hose-pipe bans were issued in many counties.
• The Met Office confirmed that July 2006 was the
warmest month on record across the UK, and a
number of regional records were also broken.
• In Germany most of the July temperature average
records were broken. In Mannheim/Ludwigshafen a
July average of 26 °C was recorded, which means a
temperature anomaly of 6 °C, which is a new record
for a monthly average in Germany.
• Hungary was also affected by the heatwave with
warmer temperatures than usual.
Consequences of Climate Change
• Increased frequency of high temperature
extremes, heat waves and heavy
precipitation
• Increase in tropical cyclone intensity
• Precipitation decreases in subtropical land
regions
• Diminishing water resources in many areas,
like the Mediterranean Basin
Thank you for your attention
Sources
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_European_heat_wave
• http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/be_flood_aware/types_of_flooding/coa
stal_flooding.aspx
• http://www.visitscotland.com/travel/weather
• http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8936
• http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/ukmapavge.html
• http://www.fantom-xp.com
• http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/models/visual.php
• http://www.foei.org/en/who-we-are/testimonies/europe/antje
• http://www.pik-potsdam.de/members/vtecken/lehre-unipotsdam/projektseminar-ws-06-07-analyse-institutionelleranpassungsstrategien/climate-change-in-germany.pdf
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming