Understanding the Current and Future Climate in California

This presentation will describe the basic large-scale and local climatology of California, the mechanisms of change, and the uncertainties associated with climate model simulations and analysis. As part of our role in the 2010 California Climate Assessment, sixteen Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change global climate models were downscaled to develop probabilistic estimates of temperature and precipitation over California for the 2060s. Two statistical and three dynamic downscaling methods were used in this analysis. The hydrologic response to temperature increase and changes in precipitation frequency and intensity on the Sierra Nevada snowmelt and streamflow response will also be covered.

Norman Miller is Staff Scientist in the Earth Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab, is an Adjunct Professor in the Geography Department at the University of California at Berkeley and the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona at Tucson. He is focused on understanding hydroclimate processes and related impacts based on modeling and analysis of climate, hydrology, and ecology, and their impacts on energy and water supply and demand, water quality, agriculture, and impacts to other sectors of society.

Speaker: Norman L. Miller, Adjunct Professor in the Geography Department at the University of California at Berkeley and the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona at Tucson