UDC

556.545+551.583

Authors

Grishchenko Irina Vasil’evna
Northern Department of the Service on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring
Mayakovsky str., 2, Arkhangelsk, 163020, Russian Federation;
e-mail: ovenir2011@yandex.ru

Abstract

The activity of the regional centre and the large sea and river port Arkhangelsk to a large extent depends on the hydrological regime of the Northern Dvina River. Therefore it is important to know the river regime features in different seasons of the year. In addition, the changes occurring in the river for decades require close attention. These changes are associated with a number of factors, one of which is a climate change. The paper investigates the statistical regularities of ice processes in the estuary of the Northern Dvina, the development trends of these processes against the background of the mean air temperature changes. The data analysis shows that the increase of the mean air temperature has been reflected in the shift of the dates of ice phenomena and in a change of the ice characteristics. In particular, in the twenty-first century the only early ice formation (in 2002) was observed. All other cases of ice formation occurred at the later periods with respect to the norm. Accordingly, the freezeup formation occurred much later. These phenomena affect seriously on the economy and activity of the population in the area, as its centuries-old style of life has been focused on the more stable ice processes. In addition, there is a risk of increasing of fetch frequency in autumn and winter in a free flowing channel which is usually accompanied by flooding of coastal and insular areas at the estuary of the Northern Dvina. Therefore, we need to develop the measures to adapt to the new conditions of a changing environment in order to avoid or minimize the economic and societal damage of the region.

Keywords

climate change, ice formation, freeze-up, autumn and winter ice drift, ice thickness, the Northern Dvina

References

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