The doors to our Whitianga and Paeroa offices will be closed for the summer break from 4pm on Friday, 20 December, while our Taupō and Hamilton offices will close for the summer break at 1pm on Tuesday, 24 December. All offices will reopen on Monday, 6 January 2025. To report air or water pollution, unsafe water activities in or on a river, lake or harbour, or make a general enquiry or information request during this time, call us 24/7 on 0800 800 401.

Close alert

An assessment of the impacts of climate change in the Waikato region: Applying CMIP5 data

TR 2015/26
  1. Services »
  2. Publications »
  3. TR2015/26
On this page

Report: TR 2015/26

Author: Drs Meng Wang, Yinpeng Li and Chonghua Yin

Abstract

Climate change is projected to alter long-term average climatic conditions and climatic variability in New Zealand. The best estimates are for a temperature increase of 0.2–2.0°C by 2040 and 0.7–5.1°C by 2090, with marked seasonal changes in rainfall and extreme events (Ministry for the Environment, 2008 (based on CMIP3 data).

This report provides a broad technical assessment of the physical effects of climate change in the Waikato region. Projections cover short (2030), medium (2070) and long-term (2100) timeframes. Ensembles (or parallel scenarios) of up to 40 CMIP5 Global Climate Models (GCMs) were used to generate the future scenarios. Eight climatic indices were used to represent the major climate change-induced effects, including mean temperature, mean precipitation, extreme precipitation change, peak streamflow change, Potential Evapotranspiration Deficit (PED), Temperature-Humidity Index (THI), Growing Degree Days (GDD), and extreme wind. 

Read or download the report