Recent mild and wet years in relation to long observation records and future climate change in Sweden.
Recent mild and wet years in Sweden were compared with long observation series of temperature, precipitation and runoff. Spatial average series for northern and southern Sweden were constructed and analyzed for the period 1901-2002. Precipitation increased considerably during the period, whereas temperature and runoff increases were weaker. On average, for the whole country, the differences between the period 1991-2002 and 1901-1990 were +0.7 degrees C for temperature, +11% in precipitation and +7% in runoff. The differences in temperature and precipitation, but not runoff, were significant at the 5% level. However, the 1930s were equally mild, and the runoff was almost as high in the 1920s. The characteristic feature of the past decade is the combination of high temperature, precipitation and runoff. The deviation between the most recent decade and the preceding years is consistent with climate scenario projections for Sweden, but there are also differences in the seasonal pattern.
Lindström
Göran
G
Department of Research and Development, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Norrköping. goran.lindstrom@smhi.se
Alexandersson
Hans
H
D002980:Climate; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011891:Rain; D013548:Sweden; D013696:Temperature