Impact of Global Warming on Extreme Heavy Rainfall in the Present Climate: Case Study of Heavy Rainfall in Kinugawa, Japan (2015)

Hazardous heavy rainfall and wide-scale inundation occurred in the Kinugawa River basin, north of Tokyo, in 2015. In this study, ensemble hindcast and non-global warming (NGW) simulations of this heavy rainfall event were implemented. In the NGW simulations, initial and boundary conditions were gene...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kenji Taniguchi, Yuto Minobe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/2/220
_version_ 1811339675276673024
author Kenji Taniguchi
Yuto Minobe
author_facet Kenji Taniguchi
Yuto Minobe
author_sort Kenji Taniguchi
collection DOAJ
description Hazardous heavy rainfall and wide-scale inundation occurred in the Kinugawa River basin, north of Tokyo, in 2015. In this study, ensemble hindcast and non-global warming (NGW) simulations of this heavy rainfall event were implemented. In the NGW simulations, initial and boundary conditions were generated by using the outputs of natural forcing historical experiments by twelve different global climate models. The results of the hindcast and NGW simulations indicated the high likelihood of the generation of linear heavy rainfall bands and the intensification of Kinugawa heavy rainfall due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. However, in some NGW simulations, the total rainfall was greater than in the hindcast. In addition, the maximum total rainfall was greater in many NGW simulations. Lower atmospheric temperature, sea surface temperature (SST), and precipitable water content (PWC) under the initial conditions can cause less rainfall in the NGW simulations. However, some discrepancies were found in the initial conditions and simulated rainfall; less rainfall with higher atmospheric temperature, SST and PWC, and vice versa. A detailed investigation of simulated atmospheric conditions explained the simulated rainfall. These results indicate that it is not sufficient to examine climatological anomalies to understand individual extreme weather events, but that detailed simulations are useful.
first_indexed 2024-04-13T18:30:19Z
format Article
id doaj.art-5f4d1bfe0f2f4aae91973ea6ce0ecb26
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2073-4433
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T18:30:19Z
publishDate 2020-02-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Atmosphere
spelling doaj.art-5f4d1bfe0f2f4aae91973ea6ce0ecb262022-12-22T02:35:07ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332020-02-0111222010.3390/atmos11020220atmos11020220Impact of Global Warming on Extreme Heavy Rainfall in the Present Climate: Case Study of Heavy Rainfall in Kinugawa, Japan (2015)Kenji Taniguchi0Yuto Minobe1Faculty of Geosciences and Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-1192, JapanDepartment of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mie Prefectural Government, Tsu 514-8570, JapanHazardous heavy rainfall and wide-scale inundation occurred in the Kinugawa River basin, north of Tokyo, in 2015. In this study, ensemble hindcast and non-global warming (NGW) simulations of this heavy rainfall event were implemented. In the NGW simulations, initial and boundary conditions were generated by using the outputs of natural forcing historical experiments by twelve different global climate models. The results of the hindcast and NGW simulations indicated the high likelihood of the generation of linear heavy rainfall bands and the intensification of Kinugawa heavy rainfall due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. However, in some NGW simulations, the total rainfall was greater than in the hindcast. In addition, the maximum total rainfall was greater in many NGW simulations. Lower atmospheric temperature, sea surface temperature (SST), and precipitable water content (PWC) under the initial conditions can cause less rainfall in the NGW simulations. However, some discrepancies were found in the initial conditions and simulated rainfall; less rainfall with higher atmospheric temperature, SST and PWC, and vice versa. A detailed investigation of simulated atmospheric conditions explained the simulated rainfall. These results indicate that it is not sufficient to examine climatological anomalies to understand individual extreme weather events, but that detailed simulations are useful.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/2/220climate changeevent attributionheavy rainfallnumerical simulationregional weather modelnatural greenhouse gas emission
spellingShingle Kenji Taniguchi
Yuto Minobe
Impact of Global Warming on Extreme Heavy Rainfall in the Present Climate: Case Study of Heavy Rainfall in Kinugawa, Japan (2015)
Atmosphere
climate change
event attribution
heavy rainfall
numerical simulation
regional weather model
natural greenhouse gas emission
title Impact of Global Warming on Extreme Heavy Rainfall in the Present Climate: Case Study of Heavy Rainfall in Kinugawa, Japan (2015)
title_full Impact of Global Warming on Extreme Heavy Rainfall in the Present Climate: Case Study of Heavy Rainfall in Kinugawa, Japan (2015)
title_fullStr Impact of Global Warming on Extreme Heavy Rainfall in the Present Climate: Case Study of Heavy Rainfall in Kinugawa, Japan (2015)
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Global Warming on Extreme Heavy Rainfall in the Present Climate: Case Study of Heavy Rainfall in Kinugawa, Japan (2015)
title_short Impact of Global Warming on Extreme Heavy Rainfall in the Present Climate: Case Study of Heavy Rainfall in Kinugawa, Japan (2015)
title_sort impact of global warming on extreme heavy rainfall in the present climate case study of heavy rainfall in kinugawa japan 2015
topic climate change
event attribution
heavy rainfall
numerical simulation
regional weather model
natural greenhouse gas emission
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/2/220
work_keys_str_mv AT kenjitaniguchi impactofglobalwarmingonextremeheavyrainfallinthepresentclimatecasestudyofheavyrainfallinkinugawajapan2015
AT yutominobe impactofglobalwarmingonextremeheavyrainfallinthepresentclimatecasestudyofheavyrainfallinkinugawajapan2015