Sentences with phrase «precipitation deficits»
The phrase "precipitation deficits" refers to a situation where there is not enough rainfall or snowfall compared to what is considered normal in a particular area. It means there is a shortage of water, which can lead to drought or water scarcity. Full definition
That same study also warns that the climate system is «capable» of precipitation deficits that are more severe and longer - lasting than what we are seeing now.
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Such combinations can create significant droughts, the study found, whereas precipitation deficits by themselves can be insufficient in yielding a drought.
Rather, these moderate precipitation deficits have been far more likely to produce 1 - SD drought when they occur in a warm year.
Our analyses show that California has historically been more likely to experience drought if precipitation deficits co-occur with warm conditions and that such confluences have increased in recent decades, leading to increases in the fraction of low - precipitation years that yield drought.
On this week's map, conditions remained status quo in northern portions of the region while short - term precipitation deficits during the past 30 days led to expansion of areas of Abnormally Dry (D0) in southern Alabama and in northwestern Florida near the Apalachicola River.
There is little evidence for a human influence on precipitation deficits, but a lot of evidence for a human fingerprint on surface soil moisture deficits — starting with increased evapotranspiration caused by higher temperatures.
Regions shaded green show precipitation surpluses; regions shaded brown show precipitation deficits.
US precipitation deficits remain large in the second winter while the region of reduced precipitation shifts northeastward.
Mueller, B. and S. Seneviratne (2012), Hot days induced by precipitation deficits at the global scale, 12398 — 12403, PNAS, July 31,, vol.
For example, the report highlights a statement about decreases in surface soil moisture in the United States but leaves for the reader to unearth the statement that «Little evidence is found for a human influence on observed precipitation deficits.»
«These observations from the paleoclimate record suggest that high temperatures have combined with the low but not yet exceptional precipitation deficits to create the worst short - term drought of the last millennium for the state of California,» the study states.
Given that the ongoing California drought encompasses the most extreme 12 - mo precipitation deficit on record (8) and that both temperature and many drought indicators reached their most extreme historical values for California in July 2014 (7)(Fig. 1 and Figs.
(Drought expanded across the Central U.S. last week as precipitation deficits there increased.
The observed statewide warming (Fig. 1C) has therefore substantially increased the probability that when moderate precipitation deficits occur, they occur during warm years.
* As of September 2014, 3 - year precipitation deficits now exceed average annual precipitation across most of California, and most these anomalies stem from the exceptional dryness during 2013 and early 2014.
The drought in California has been building for more than four years, as winter precipitation deficits slowed streams to a trickle and sent reservoir levels dipping, while unusually warm temperatures increased water demand.
Although long - term (60 + months) precipitation deficits persisted in some locations, some reservoirs returned to above - average levels after being record and near - record low for the past several years.
Another study, published in Geophysical Research Letters in late December of last year, found that California's precipitation deficits alone do not make this drought a historic event.
Many hoped that rains would arrive with the end of the El Niño, as has happened on previous occasions, but the anticipated deluge didn't occur, and there is still two to three years of precipitation deficit across much of the state.
The precipitation this week will probably only be enough to bring us up to normal for the week — that is, in the long run, this week's rainfall / snowfall will only prevent the already huge precipitation deficit from increasing further.
The heatwave was accompanied by annual precipitation deficits up to 300 mm.
Warm temperatures increase the rate of evaporation from parched soils and critically dry rivers, lakes, and streams — exacerbating the impacts of existing precipitation deficits.
While previous observational studies generally focused on the relationship between precipitation deficits and the number of hot days, we investigate here the influence of soil moisture (SM) on summer monthly maximum temperatures (TXx) using water balance model - based SM estimates (driven with observations) and temperature observations.
Yearly precipitation deficits have ranged from 30 - 70 % for most of central Chile for the last decade.
Given the known influence of temperature on drought, the fact that the 2012 — 2014 record drought severity has co-occurred with record statewide warmth (7) raises the question of whether long - term warming has altered the probability that precipitation deficits yield extreme drought in California.
In addition, continued global warming is likely to cause a transition to a regime in which essentially every seasonal, annual, and multiannual precipitation deficit co-occurs with historically warm conditions.
Although precipitation deficits are a prerequisite for the moisture deficits that constitute «drought» (by any definition)(15), elevated temperatures can greatly amplify evaporative demand, thereby increasing overall drought intensity and impact (16, 17).
At the same time, California's multi-year precipitation deficits remain so large (equivalent to 1 - 2 years» worth of precipitation on a statewide basis) that it would be essentially impossible to make up the difference in a single year.
They foresee a period characterised by what they politely called «recurring precipitation deficits»: in other words, sustained and potentially catastrophic drought.
Drought is a relative term; therefore any discussion in terms of precipitation deficit must refer to the particular precipitation - related activity that is under discussion.
Mueller, B., and S. I. Seneviratne, 2012: Hot days induced by precipitation deficits at the global scale.
temperature could have exacerbated the 2014 drought by approximately 36 %... These observations from the paleoclimate record suggest that high temperatures have combined with the low but not yet exceptional precipitation deficits to create the worst short - term drought of the last millennium for the state of California... Future severe droughts are expected to be in part driven by anthropogenic influences and temperatures outside the range of the last millennium.
However, the occurrence of extreme 12 - mo precipitation deficits -LRB--- 1.5 SD) is greater in 2006 — 2080 than in 1920 — 2005 (< 0.03 significance level).
The climate models analyzed in the paper «Causes of model dry and warm bias over central U.S. and impact on climate projections,» included a precipitation deficit that is associated with widespread failure of the models in capturing actual strong rainfall events in summer over the region.
Delworth's analysis shows the precipitation deficit that has driven drought in the western U.S. since the early 2000s is due to these changes in the Pacific region.
From the perspective of soil moisture, the ongoing drought is the worst in at least the last 1,200 years, the study found, adding that the high temperatures in the past few years may have aggravated the precipitation deficits by nearly 40 %.
Precipitation deficits have actually grown even larger since the end of November, and given the current forecast for a continuation of exceptionally dry conditions for essentially the rest of the calendar year, I expect that it's very likely that California will experience it's driest calendar year on record in 2013.
In addition, precipitation deficit or human activities (such as groundwater extraction) can cause water supplies from rivers, lakes, or groundwater to become low, known as a «hydrological drought.»
Drought is generally related to a precipitation deficit, known as a «meteorological drought».
* This means that the maximum 12 - month magnitude of the precipitation deficits in California during the current drought have exceeded those during all previous droughts in living memory — including both the 1976 - 1977 and 1987 - 1992 events.
Despite insights into the causes and historical context of precipitation deficits (8 ⇓ ⇓ — 11), the influence of historical temperature changes on the probability of individual droughts has — until recently — received less attention (12 ⇓ — 14).
The proximal cause of the precipitation deficits was the recurring poleward deflection of the cool - season storm track by a region of persistently high atmospheric pressure, which steered Pacific storms away from California over consecutive seasons (8 ⇓ ⇓ — 11).
Taken together, the observed record from California suggests that (i) precipitation deficits are more likely to yield 1 - SD PMDI droughts if they occur when conditions are warm and (ii) the occurrence of 1 - SD PMDI droughts, the probability of precipitation deficits producing 1 - SD PMDI droughts, and the probability of precipitation deficits co-occurring with warm conditions have all been greater in the past two decades than in the preceding century.