ePrints@IIScePrints@IISc Home | About | Browse | Latest Additions | Advanced Search | Contact | Help

Multi-model climate change projections for India under representative concentration pathways

Chaturvedi, Rajiv Kumar and Joshi, Jaideep and Jayaraman, Mathangi and Bala, G and Ravindranath, NH (2012) Multi-model climate change projections for India under representative concentration pathways. In: CURRENT SCIENCE, 103 (7). pp. 791-802.

[img]
Preview
PDF
cur_sci_103-7_791_2012.pdf - Published Version

Download (1MB) | Preview
Official URL: http://www.currentscience.ac.in/php/toc.php?vol=10...

Abstract

Climate projections for the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are made using the newly developed representative concentration pathways (RCPs) under the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project 5 (CMIP5). This article provides multi-model and multi-scenario temperature and precipitation projections for India for the period 1860-2099 based on the new climate data. We find that CMIP5 ensemble mean climate is closer to observed climate than any individual model. The key findings of this study are: (i) under the business-as-usual (between RCP6.0 and RCP8.5) scenario, mean warming in India is likely to be in the range 1.7-2 degrees C by 2030s and 3.3-4.8 degrees C by 2080s relative to pre-industrial times; (ii) all-India precipitation under the business-as-usual scenario is projected to increase from 4% to 5% by 2030s and from 6% to 14% towards the end of the century (2080s) compared to the 1961-1990 baseline; (iii) while precipitation projections are generally less reliable than temperature projections, model agreement in precipitation projections increases from RCP2.6 to RCP8.5, and from short-to long-term projections, indicating that long-term precipitation projections are generally more robust than their short-term counterparts and (iv) there is a consistent positive trend in frequency of extreme precipitation days (e.g. > 40 mm/day) for decades 2060s and beyond. These new climate projections should be used in future assessment of impact of climate change and adaptation planning. There is need to consider not just the mean climate projections, but also the more important extreme projections in impact studies and as well in adaptation planning.

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: CURRENT SCIENCE
Publisher: INDIAN ACAD SCIENCES,
Additional Information: Copyright for this article belongs to INDIAN ACAD SCIENCES, BANGALORE, INDIA
Department/Centre: Division of Electrical Sciences > Electrical Engineering
Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Sustainable Technologies (formerly ASTRA)
Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
Date Deposited: 31 Dec 2012 07:05
Last Modified: 31 Dec 2012 07:06
URI: http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/45488

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item