A pan-arctic evaluation of changes in river discharge during the latter half of the 20th century
A pan-arctic evaluation of changes in river discharge during the latter half of the 20th century
Date
2006-03-30
Authors
McClelland, James W.
Dery, Stephen J.
Peterson, Bruce J.
Holmes, Robert M.
Wood, Eric F.
Dery, Stephen J.
Peterson, Bruce J.
Holmes, Robert M.
Wood, Eric F.
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DOI
10.1029/2006GL025753
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Abstract
Several recent publications have documented changes in river discharge from arctic and
subarctic watersheds. Comparison of these findings, however, has been hampered by differences in time periods and methods of analysis. Here we compare changes in discharge from different regions of the pan-arctic watershed using identical time periods and analytical methods.
Discharge to the Arctic Ocean increased by 5.6 km3/y/y during 1964-2000, the net result of a large increase from Eurasia moderated by a small decrease from North America. In contrast, discharge to Hudson/James/Ungava Bays decreased by 2.5 km3/y/y during 1964-2000. While this evaluation identifies an overall increase in discharge (~120 km3/y greater discharge at the end of the time period as compared to the beginning for Hudson/James/Unvaga Bays and the
Arctic Ocean combined), the contrasting regional trends also highlight the need to understand the consequences of adding/removing freshwater from particular regions of the arctic and subarctic
oceans.
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Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2006. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 33 (2006): L06715, doi:10.1029/2006GL025753.
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Geophysical Research Letters 33 (2006): L06715