Climate Change Effects on Winter River Runoff in Transbaikalia

V. A. Obyazov and V. K. Smakhtin

Considered are interannual variations of the river runoff in Transbaikalia during the freeze-up and their dependence on the climate change. The air temperature in winter has increased since the middle of the 20th century that results in the ice thickness decrease on the majority of rivers on the territory under study. The runoff volume in winter depends significantly on the preliminary moistening of catchments. Warming effect is manifested in the increase in the fraction of the winter runoff in the annual runoff volume during the long-term period.