Abstract
Human activity affects the Earth’s climate mainly via two processes: the emission of greenhouse gases and aerosols and the alteration of land cover. Climate research conducted in the past several years indicates that most of the observed increase in global average temperatures over the past few decades is very likely 1 due to the observed increase in greenhouse gas concentrations from human activities. It is likely that without the cooling effects of atmospheric aerosols, greenhouse gases alone would have caused a greater global temperature rise than has actually been observed. Research also indicates that human influences on the climate are expected to increase in the future, mainly because greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise. Consequently, global average surface warming is projected for the 21st century. These projections depend largely on the scenarios used to represent greenhouse gas emissions. In general, however, the projected warming is greatest over the land and most high northern latitudes, with relatively less change over the Southern Ocean and parts of the North Atlantic Ocean. Warming is typically projected to be greater in arid regions than in humid regions. Projected precipitation increases are very likely at high latitudes, while decreases are likely over most subtropical land regions. This projected change in precipitation is a continuation of recent trends.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Speth, P., Fink, A.H. (2010). Introduction. In: Speth, P., Christoph, M., Diekkrüger, B. (eds) Impacts of Global Change on the Hydrological Cycle in West and Northwest Africa. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12957-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12957-5_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-12956-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-12957-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)