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Investigation of impact of environmental changes on precipitation pattern of Pakistan

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Abstract

In this paper, variability in precipitation pattern of Pakistan due to environmental and climatic changes has been studied. Maps have been generated to depict global precipitation variation. Precipitation data of 25 stations of Pakistan have been used. These data were taken from Meteorological Department, Islamabad, Pakistan. The results of two global climate models, namely Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research’s third generation general circulation model and National Center for Atmospheric Research’s first generation precipitation circulation model for A2 scenario have been applied to investigate the changes. It is observed that precipitation pattern will change significantly in the future. The occurrence of precipitation in all seasons for Pakistan is expected to increase with almost uniform distribution across a season. Average annual precipitation of the country will undergo an increase in the range of +57 to +71 % as compared to average of the base period.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the cooperation from the National Agromet Center (NAMC) of Pakistan Meteorological Department NAMC in providing weather data for 1971–2000 free of cost. Efforts of Mr. Muhammad Hassan (late), M.A. English, whose feedback helped us to make this paper better in the English language, are acknowledged. Authors are deeply obliged for the cooperation from Dr. Sajjad Ahmad, PhD. P.E, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA.

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Correspondence to A. R. Ghumman.

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Ghumman, A.R., Hassan, I., Khan, Q.U.Z. et al. Investigation of impact of environmental changes on precipitation pattern of Pakistan. Environ Monit Assess 185, 4897–4905 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2911-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2911-7

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