Variability in temperature, precipitation and river discharge in the Baltic States

The climate change impact on water resources is observed in all the Baltic States. These processes became more evident in the last decades. Although the territory of the Baltic States (Lithuania. Latvia, Estonia) is not large (175 000 [km.sup.2]), the climatic differences are quite considerable. We...

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Published inBoreal environment research Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 150 - 162
Main Authors KRIAUCIUNIENE, Jurate, MEILUTYTE-BARAUSKIENE, Diana, REIHAN, Alvina, KOLTSOVA, Tatjana, LIZUMA, Lita, SARAUSKIENE, Diana
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Helsinski Finnish Environment Institute 2012
Suomen Ymparistokeskus
Subjects
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Atmospheric temperature
Biological and medical sciences
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Environmental aspects
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Marine and continental quaternary
Precipitation variability
Rivers
Surficial geology
Synecology
Latvia
Baltic region
Lithuania
Europe
Estonia
rivers
Territory
river discharge
streams
ground water
runoff
climate
variability
Long term
Feeding
precipitation
water resources
aquifers
temperature
climate change
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Summary:The climate change impact on water resources is observed in all the Baltic States. These processes became more evident in the last decades. Although the territory of the Baltic States (Lithuania. Latvia, Estonia) is not large (175 000 [km.sup.2]), the climatic differences are quite considerable. We performed a regionalization of the territory of the Baltic States depending on the conditions of river runoff formation which can be defined according to percentages of the river feeding sources (precipitation, snowmelt, groundwater). Long-term series of temperature (40 stations), precipitation (59 stations) and river discharge (77 stations) were used to compose ten regional series. This paper addresses: (1) variability in long-term regional series of temperature, precipitation and river discharge over a long period (1922-2007); (2) changes in regional series, comparing the periods 1991-2007 and 1931-1960 with the reference period (1961-1990), and (3) the impact of temperature and precipitation changes on regional river discharge.
ISSN:1239-6095
1797-2469