Authors:
Kamel K. Alzboon; La'aly A. Al-Samrraie; Khalideh Al Bkoor Alrawashdeh;
Abstract:
Climate change is considered as one of the main environmental challenges which occurred during the last five decades. Climate change poses an additional heavy pressure on Jordan’s limited water resources and the environment. This paper aimed to assess climate change in Jordan using many temperature indicators (max. T>25, max. T>30, min. T>10 and min. T<10°C). Also, the area method was used as a new approach to assess the trend in the mentioned indicators. The data collected for 30 years in 10 stations was used for calculation
and analysis. The results indicated that two stations recorded a noteworthy increase in temperature above 25 and 30°C, while the others showed an insignificant increase/decrease. Only one station showed a significant increase in the min. T>10°C with an irrelevant change in the other stations. Analysis of monthly data revealed that 50, 60 and 30% of the stations showed an increase in the max. temp. (>25) in June, July and August, respectively, with a notable increase for two stations. In comparison with the minimum temperature >15°C, six
of the 10 stations showed increases during June, four in July and four in August, with a significant trend in two stations in two different months. Regarding the coldest days (min.<10°C), 6 of 8 stations and 8 of 10 stations showed a decrease in the average min. monthly temperature<10°C in November and December, respectively, which indicated late commencement of the winter season and a significant change in the season's pattern. By comparing the results of the area method with those of the linear regression method, a high agreement was found between the trends in both approaches, while a substantial difference in R2 value was found. Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that the climate change in temperature is pronounced and can be determined successfully by the area method.
Keywords:
Climate change, Jordan, Temperature pattern, Area method, Max. temp., Min. temp