The Runoff in the Upper Taohe River Basin and Its Responses to Climate Change

Climate change has a significant impact on water resources. Forecasts and simulations of climate runoff processes are essential for assessing the impact of global climate change on runoff variations. This study focuses on the upper Taohe River Basin, which is an important watershed in the semi-arid...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inWater (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 13; p. 2094
Main Authors Cheng, Lizhen, Wan, Guoning, Yang, Meixue, Wang, Xuejia, Li, Yongshan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2022
Subjects
Arid zones
Climate change
Computer centers
Drought
Environmental impact
General circulation models
Greenhouse gases
Hydrologic cycle
Hydrologic models
hydrological models
Hydrology
Land use
Precipitation
Resource utilization
River basin management
River basins
Rivers
Runoff
runoff projection
Semi arid areas
Semiarid lands
Upper Taohe River basin
Water resources
Water resources management
Water shortages
Gansu China
China
Yellow River
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Climate change has a significant impact on water resources. Forecasts and simulations of climate runoff processes are essential for assessing the impact of global climate change on runoff variations. This study focuses on the upper Taohe River Basin, which is an important watershed in the semi-arid regions of northwest China. To assess the runoff in the upper Taohe River Basin and the responses to climate change, the SWAT hydrological model was used to analyze future climate change scenarios and their effects on water resources. The results indicate that the minimum temperature would increase gradually in the 21st century and that the minimum temperature change would be more significant than the maximum temperature change, which indicates that minimum temperature changes would make an obvious contribution to future regional warming. Under RCP2.6, the average precipitation would decrease; at the same time, under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, the average precipitation would increase. In the future, under different climate scenarios, the runoff will exhibit droughts and flood disasters. These research results provide scientific support for water resource utilization and management in the Taohe River Basin.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w14132094