About this Research Topic
The Great Lakes region of the North America, which straddles the border between Canada and the United States, is an agricultural, industrial, recreational, and transportation center for both countries. Key to these activities is the region’s unique hydroclimatology, including the Great Lakes themselves which are one of the world’s largest surface freshwater ecosystems. Changes to the hydroclimatology of the Great Lakes region, such as shifts in precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, streamflow, lake levels, and lake ice extent, are a concern for the region’s natural resources and economic activity. Although the sensitivity of Great Lakes region to climate variability and change has long been recognized, current understanding of the influence of climate variability and change on the region’s complex hydroclimatology remains incomplete.
For this collection, we seek studies that improve our understanding of: 1) the hydroclimatology of the Great Lakes region, 2) potential impacts of climate variability and change on the regional hydroclimatology, 3) vulnerability of natural resources and economic activities to changes in the regional hydroclimatology, and 4) strategies for adapting to hydroclimatological change. The overall goal of the collection is to facilitate climate-related decision making in the Great Lakes region at spatial and temporal scales relevant to decision makers.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• Fundamental understanding of the hydroclimatology of the Great Lakes region
• Exploration of new datasets and tools to characterize the region’s hydroclimatology
• Extreme hydroclimatological events such as floods and drought
• The influence of the Great Lakes on the regional climate
• Trends in regional temperature and precipitation
• Changes in the synoptic climatology of the Great Lakes region
• Response of the Great Lakes to climate change
• Paleoclimatic contributions to understanding climate change
• Anthropogenic stressors for Great Lakes watersheds
• Sector-specific impacts and options for adapting to changes in the regional hydroclimatology
• Communication of uncertainty surrounding future hydroclimatological change
Photo credit: NASA Visible Earth (1999)
For this collection, we seek studies that improve our understanding of: 1) the hydroclimatology of the Great Lakes region, 2) potential impacts of climate variability and change on the regional hydroclimatology, 3) vulnerability of natural resources and economic activities to changes in the regional hydroclimatology, and 4) strategies for adapting to hydroclimatological change. The overall goal of the collection is to facilitate climate-related decision making in the Great Lakes region at spatial and temporal scales relevant to decision makers.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• Fundamental understanding of the hydroclimatology of the Great Lakes region
• Exploration of new datasets and tools to characterize the region’s hydroclimatology
• Extreme hydroclimatological events such as floods and drought
• The influence of the Great Lakes on the regional climate
• Trends in regional temperature and precipitation
• Changes in the synoptic climatology of the Great Lakes region
• Response of the Great Lakes to climate change
• Paleoclimatic contributions to understanding climate change
• Anthropogenic stressors for Great Lakes watersheds
• Sector-specific impacts and options for adapting to changes in the regional hydroclimatology
• Communication of uncertainty surrounding future hydroclimatological change
Photo credit: NASA Visible Earth (1999)
Keywords: Great Lakes, hydroclimatology, climate variability and change, climate change assessment, climate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, decision making, uncertainty, communication
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
