IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2013) reports that for the most severe emissions scenario (RCP8.5), global average surface temperatures will most likely rise by 2.8-5.4°C during the 21st century. At the regional scale, warming is projected to be greatest at high northern latitudes, where precipitation is also very likely to increase. It is therefore of utmost importance to understand and be able to project the likely impact on snow cover and water resources in specific river basins, where water resources management will be heavily impacted by climate change. As part of this effort, it is necessary to establish baseline monitoring of snow cover and river runoff processes in headwater basins which are the source of our water resources. Of particular concern to water resources managers is the potential for large shifts in the seasonal distribution of river runoff, especially in areas that rely on snowmelt runoff in spring and summer for agricultural irrigation (Whitaker and Yoshimura, 2012).
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